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

[The Fallen Jedi]

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Supreme Demonic Dark God Alastir | Lord Satera

Ouranos!Satera didn't even both to turn around, his focus was entirely on Xander, but the comment made by Katie caused Ouranos to smile as he spoke to her "I am beyond you and your powers child, for I have no brain, nor do I have any major organs. I have transcended beyond the usage of conventional organs, and so has the fusion of Satera. Try not to threaten me again child, or I will just simply demolish your molecules into nothing but a fine dust and then scatter it throughout the Universe, and as for Alastir..." Ouranos!Satera took a look towards Alastir, who still had his eyes glued upon Xander "I have no power over him and I cannot make him apologize in the slightest, but what I can do..." With a single gesture of his hand, the Masaki Galaxy was returned to it's former state, but major alterations were made to it "Is return the state of my Galaxy back to it's absolute pinnacle of power, which means that my brothers have most likely been brought to life, so let us hope that they are as merciful as myself."

Ouranos!Satera then turned his head to respond to Xander, but he was met with a slap to the face, which would have normally sent someone as the likes of Satera flying backwards, but amazingly, it only caused his head to turn to the right before he turn turned to stare at Xander with a condescending expression on his face "Inferior Child..." Ouranos!Satera's expression became more and more ominous with each passing second "You'd best watch who you are slapping around, before you do something else you regret." Ouranos practically sneered as his eye contact with Xander did not even falter "You may not care about being a Mass-Murderer, but I sure as hell care if those lives are innocent people, for even If I am the God of Balance, I, alongside Spera are the protectors of our Galaxy and every drop of blood shed is something that affects us, the people of our Galaxy are our children, we will protect them and we will keep them safe, and if we deem Earth as a threat to our safety, there will be no warning, there will be no large army, all there will be is the instant destruction of your planet..."

Ouranos!Satera leaned in closely to Xander with a slightly agitated expression on his face "Then instead of killing you, I will leave you to regret over your actions, because even If I kill Billions of lives, It will have been for the greater good." Ouranos!Satera turned to Alastir, who also turned his head towards Ouranos "Alastir, leave now, for you have made your point about your opinion on Earth, this has been the fourth threat delivered to us, and the second time that the Galaxy was actually attacked, lest it be a third time? Well I wouldn't be so certain that the Earth will be left when I'm done with it, I am not the Avatar of Vengeance, but I am the representation of all fundamental forces in my Galaxy, including Divine Retribution." With a single nod of acknowledgment, Alastir simply faded away in a plume of darkness, followed by his army, and finally, all eight hundred of his ships.

Allowing both Spera and himself to speak, Satera's eyes went from deep blue to Emerald "Asumar, Kazuko, Shimura, Arctico, I would advise that the four of you leave the Earth for now, If you don't want to become a part of this once more, I will respect those wishes, but In order to protect your homeworlds, expect both Rhen Var and Sigma Galli Prime to be moved to a neighboring Satellite Galaxy, I will inform you when I have moved the Monolith of Mortis to a much safer area, and Arctico..." Arctico's eyes connected with Satera's "You have an Empire and a home to worry about, so I will not beg for your help, but like Asumar, Kazuko, and Master Shimura, you are always welcome into our Galaxy." Satera replied with a smile on his face as Arctico, Asumar, and Kazuko all departed, the Masaki Brothers returning back to the Masaki Galaxy while Arctico decided to return back to the Northern Galaxy, as he received reports of Arcos suffering severe damage from the fight between Mira and Hiroshi, Arctico had to handle the crisis. However, to even Satera's shock, Shimura stood right where he was, staring down at the Earth, judging them "Shimura?" Satera asked "Are you alright?"

It took Shimura a few moments to turn his head back towards Satera before shifting them to Xander, for the first time in his life, Shimura was unsure of what to do, he didn't know how to judge the Earth, as keepers of the peace, or defenders who would resort to wiping an entire Galaxy clean of all life in order to keep themselves safe, It was something that Shimura needed to meditate on, but not here, not where such a battle of epic proportions took place, the atmosphere was still very much tense from the conversation "I just, need some time to think, a place to gather my thoughts..." Shimura began to float off into a random direction "I will return when such a time comes that I have judged the Earth accordingly, It is my duty as the God of Peace to judge if a planet will maintain the peace, or simply kill everyone in there way to just protect themselves, goodbye." And with those parting words, Shimura took off flying towards the Northern Galaxy, to Namek. While Satera, turning to face Xander and then Otis simply turned around, a conflicted expression "Goodbye." And with that, Satera, the God of Balance, and the Protector of the Masaki Galaxy disappeared from the Milky Way Galaxy entirely.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

"The hell does Boxer want with a mask?" One of the men questioned. The SWAT logo emblazoned on his uniform obviously indicated he wasn't a Runner.

"Above your pay grade, mate. Buzz off." A Runner showed up. Their uniforms (obviously designed for efficiency and stealth) were easily identified, once you knew what you were looking for. "Knight, I'm guessing?" He nodded towards the newcomer after the disgruntled SWAT officer left. "I'm guessing you ditched Johnson." He shrugged. "He can find his way back." He pulled out a radio. "Hey, Runner-Actual, this is Runner-5. I've got the import model outside home camp."

"This is Runner-Actual. Please confirm that the import model has no problem with red birds."

The Runner nodded. "Yo, Knight, you ever interacted with Red Robin before? Don't have any vendettas against him or anything like that?"

""I'm guessing you ditched Johnson.". The Knight stayed quiet to the statement, following Runner 5 the short distance he walked before turning to The Knight.

"Yo, Knight, you ever interacted with Red Robin before? Don't have any vendettas against him or anything like that?". "No, I've heard of Red Robin before, a Young man of his Stature wouldn't attract any vendettas against me". The Knight looked around, The normal GCPD building was more upgraded per say with the Technology, probably from Boxer's Organization. The Knight saw the grimaces and looks he'd gotten from the SWAT officers, aswell as some of the other officers, The Knight peered back at Runner 5.

"do they dislike every Masked vigilant who comes through here, or am I a special case?

"SWAT's never been a fan of the vigilantism in Gotham, and a lot of the old timers aren't a fan of the Runners. Us bringing a Mask through the GCPD HQ straight to Boxer? I'd be surprised if you didn't get ugly looks." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We're here."

The War Room entrance was a reinforced steel door. Runner-5 placed his hand on a scanner and then typed in a code, opening the door. Inside, Boxer and Red Robin, along with a few Runners, were talking. Boxer glanced at the door. "You must be Knight. Michael, grab the folder to your left and brief yourself on your assignment, then head out."

Runner-5 nodded. "Alright boss." He grabbed the folder and left the room as Boxer approached Knight.

"I'm Boxer. Runner-Actual on comms." He nodded towards the masked man behind him. "Red Robin. Redbird-Actual. on comms. The rest of these guys are my best Runners. Red Robin and these guys are my assault squad. Everyone else is on recon. You can join either team, and I have a file briefing available either way." He held up two files, one labelled 'Assault' and the other labelled 'Active,' waiting for Knight to choose one.

---

---

Munching on a chocolate bar that a nice young girl had given him, Necromancer continued walking through the streets of New Attilan, once again humming a Christmas carol to himself. Briefly, the news crews had been in a rage about the violation of the security forces at the Royal Palace of the Inhumans, and the kid who was apparently responsible, but all of that had quickly faded away in light of new information, namely, the miraclous, if temporary, resurrection of several deceased Inhumans, King Black Bolt among them. The Inhumans no longer seemed very eager to capture him for what he had done, Queen Medusa least of all, and the few humans that had managed to see him wreak havoc on the Inhuman Royal Guard were far less interested in the white-haired boy in a Santa outfit than they were in the fact that Abraham fucking Lincoln had come back from the dead to help said boy break into the palace. Thus, there was no one out for him, no one to stop him or pester him, or so he believed, and he could carry out his mission in peace.

And that was good, it was great, because he still had many more visits to make during the holiday season. He couldn't visit every living creature, or even only those who celebrated Christmas, and he knew it. He wasn't a God, despite the vast and strange powers he possessed, which allowed him to take control of entire armies of fallen Gods if he so wished. Thus, he had resigned himself to fail to visit everyone, but he could at least visit those whose friends and relatives beckoned the most, the people who had been children, siblings, partners or lovers of the souls who now were begging him to allow them to see the living once again. Normally he would ignore them, he would keep them silent to avoid being annoyed by their nagging voices, but today, he let them speak, and listened to those who spoke the loudest. Thus, resolute to carry out his self-imposed mission and with no obstacles to slow him down or stop him from doing so, Necromancer found himself standing in front of the house of one of those fortunate enough to commune with the dead. It was a really nice house, he observed briefly. Walking up to the door, he knocked softly on it.

"Otis? Otis Steredenn?" He asked with his childish voice, knocking again for good measure.

After the knock, Darkseid's voice boomed, likely heard by the whole block. "YOU BROUGHT ME TO THE HOUSE OF THAT FILTHY USURPER?!" The enslaved soul of the New God roared from the flower that was now its vessel. Necromancer turned to it alarmed and made several gestures for him to shut the hell up, to no avail. "I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS MOCKERY!" The New God bellowed, unsettling quite a few nearby Inhumans and human tourists alike.

"Darksey! Cool it! You can't just start shouting out of nowhere!" The boy hissed, but his protests were brushed away by the psychotic flower.

"DO NOT THINK THAT YOU CAN ORDER ME AROUND, BOY! I WILL-" The daisy continued, wriggling violently within the confines of its flowerpot, until suddeny, with a sigh, Necromancer pressed his thumb against the flower's face and dragged it along his mouth. Just like that, Darksey's mouth disappeared. The soul of the New God was needless to say quite surprised about this new development, and made several noises as it continued shaking violently, before finally seeming to resign and settling down. If a flower could puff its cheeks, Darksey would undoubtedly be doing so.

Just then, Necromancer felt a peculiar presence, and turned around to see a man addressing him. The man was clearly a human, something that was not altogether too unusual even in New Attilan; that, clearly, was not what was drawing his attention about the man. What else, then? He looked fairly normal, and he clearly had a great power, though that was no reason for someone such as himself to feel at all surprised about someone's presence.

"...Ah." The boy spoke in his own mind as he realized what was so unfamiliar about the person now standing before him. He was, beyond any shadow of doubt, an agent of Death. He was also a new one, something that was crystal clear to the boy, who now understood that his presence must have drawn the lowly reaper towards him, unaware of what he was. It was not the first time something like this happened to Necromancer, and it would likely not be the last. Still, though, he was not happy at all with this encounter. Who was this man, that he thought he had the right to question him? What was his reason for appearing in front of him, a beacon of demise, flaunting that which he could not have right in front of his face? Necromancer felt a cold fury creep into his bones, but his lips instead spread into a lazy smile. His right eye, like so many times before, was engulfed in azure flames, but this time they were much brighter. His powers, however, did not seem to manifest, or at least, not yet.

"Hello there." He spoke, now with a voice that was very much unsettling, unfitting for a young boy, worthy of something like a demon instead. "I'm afraid I have no name that I can give you. I am only a boy who has lost his way." He stated, before glancing to the side and gesturing towards Darksey the Daisy. "Have you met my friend?" He asked casually. "His name used to be Darkseid, but he... he was not very polite to me." The boy stated.

The Reclaimer narrowed his eyes at the Necromancer, simply watching him for a moment. Unbeknownst to the Necromancer, there was an internal conflict going on inside him.

Ok. That was... Odd.
This isn't possible.
It obviously is. It's right in front of you.
Darkseid is dead. The Racer reaped his soul.
Oh shut up and face the facts. This guy has power- More power than you.
...

"I presume you know what I am." The Reclaimer said, breaking the silence. "And I can gather you are responsible for the resurrections around Attilan." He paused. "I also know you are far stronger than you appear at first glance. I have only three questions I must ask on behalf of the Mistress, and then I shall leave. Are these facsimiles of the dead truly their Souls, taken from the realm beyond and made physical? Are they permanent? And, one that I must confess is a personal curiosity of mine, just how did you evade the Mistress? I have faced those who live in a Universe without Death before- They reek of life unchecked. I've met those who are immortal- I can still sense the Mistress' hand in them. You? The only reason I know you are here at all is that I can see you before me with my physical eyes." His eyes went to Darkseid's form and glinted. "And I must say, if that truly is Darkseid, I can appreciate his new form. The God of Apokolips reduced to a flower?" He chuckled, then waited to see if the Necromancer would answer his questions.

[The Republic of Atria]

"Someone needs to do some research before he gets himself in over his head." Xander rolled his eyes at his threats. Ouranos was in reality no actual threat. Like an ant threatening a tank. "Here's what going to happen. If you wanna run with your tails between your legs, that's fine. But if I ever catch you in this galaxy again. I'm going to kill you. I'm not even going to try and convince you to surrender or other wise. I'm just going to erase you and be done with you. I've given you many many chances. You're all too thick skulled and blind to reality. You live in your own world and cry when you make a terrible mistake and aren't in control." He snickered when they implied he would be feeling guilty over what he did. "Guilt is a pointless emotion. I did what I had to. Hopefully this managed to get something through your thick skulls. Humility is something you would all do well to learn. I'd do it a thousand times more. So long. Don't come back."

"Damn. That got pretty messed up. Oh well. It's almost Christmas time! Which means annoying Christmas music playing until February and an inhumane number of reruns of Grandma got Run Over By a Reindeer. I've probably seen that move no less than twenty times. And most of those were not voluntary." Otis said. "Who wants to help me set up Christmas decorations?" By the time he finished his sentence, Xander was gone, the Praetorians had returned home and only Naja and Katie were left. "Well. Whose house are we doing first? I need to pick up a ton of Christmas lights and jinglebells! TO WALMART!"

Naja snickered. "That sounds like fun." Otis's good mood was infectious. It was a wonder to her how he managed to always be in a very cheerful mood. "You wanna come with Katie? I could use a break from all this insanity for a few hours."

[The Fallen Jedi]

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Lord Satera
The Primordials Return: The Meeting Pt.1

It only took Satera a matter of seconds to reach the outskirts of the Masaki Galaxy, and true to his word, Major Modifications took place around the perimeter of the Galaxy, a Multi-Layered Protection Barrier had been established around it, serving as one of the many backup plans established in the even that the Galaxy's existence was ever threatened by a force that would be powerful enough to threaten the reign of the Primordials, this Galaxy-Wide Barrier being built as the buffer to prevent people from simply causing every star in the Masaki Galaxy from going supernova, this shield also nullified any Cosmic Attacks from afar, absorbing the cosmic energy and then throwing it back at the caster. It was the ultimate defense that Ouranos himself was responsible for establishing, If he ever deemed that the Primordials were being openly threatened and the fate of the Galaxy being at risk, this shield would activate in order to keep foreign forces away from the Galaxy, and render beings of Godly Capabilities essentially unable to destroy the Galaxy from afar, and If they tried to come in without any warning or with no permission from the Primordials, they would find their Life Force being ripped from their bodies and forced to come together within the Shield itself.

Spera could feel something akin to Lord Ouranos' power inhabiting the realm of Mortis, when Ouranos said that his brothers may have been revived as a result, he wasn't lying at all, these were beings of such immense power that even he found it difficult to read "Lord Ouranos, is that?" "Yes, those are my brothers that you can sense, It is rather impressive to say the least, meeting my Nine other brothers-" Satera's body came crashing to a halt as It turned around and blasted a creature that seemed to be nothing but an entity made out of slime, but there was something off about this creature, as soon as Satera's attention came to the creature, it smiled knowingly as it suddenly dissolved into nothing but simple particles "Oh geez, it seems that Brother Xion is at his normal tricks, don't worry Spera, Xion is very friendly when you get to know him." As soon as he said this, he heard playful laughter from behind him, and just as he thought, there stood Xion with a Cheshire grin on his face "Brother Xion."

"Brother Ouranos!" Xion replied with a playful smirk on his face, making it appear as if he were swimming through space "It has been a long time brother, what got you all angry about, Is it those Earthlings?" Xion asked with a knowing grin as he kicked his feet, causing him to propel himself around Satera "Oh don't worry brother, they are ants, regardless of what they say, for now, why so serious?" When Xion saw Satera's face fall to a frown, he pouted, a literal god pouted when he saw the frown on his brother's face "What? You don't like me saying that?" Xion shrugged as he got as close to Satera's face as possible "Well don't be upset, instead, you should see our other brothers, their anxious to see you as well, and what happened to our Galaxy, It looks like Yon-Kamur did a half-assed job from my perspective." quickly grabbing hold of Satera's hand, Xion pulled him towards the Mortis Monolith with amazing physical strength "Don't look so gloom or do I have to sing to make you smile?"

It was by this point that Ouranos!Satera shot his head up in shock "Please, don't sing again, last time you did it, you nearly caused the whole Galaxy to break apart at the seem, you even caused Galal the Star Forger to nearly go deaf, and at a young age for Precursors. I mean don't get me wrong, I am overjoyed that you and my brothers are alive once more, but this is serious, we're being challenged again, but instead it seems that one blue and green orb has been responsible for quite a few troubles of our Galaxy." Ouranos wasn't even aware he had arrived in Mortis, Xion played a trick on him, he warped the reality within Mortis to make it appear as if they were in space, but when Ouranos found himself in the Cathedral in only a matter of seconds, he realized that a trick was played on him.

"Brother Ouranos..." Ouranos shot his head up in the direction of the voice, he instantly recognized who it was, his fifth brother Eldros, one of the few of Ouranos' brothers that was able to witness his actions before they all met their untimely demise at the end of the Age of Primordials "It is indeed a relief to see you alive and well, but I ask." Eldros rose up from the balcony and jumped onto the ground "What is with this new form, are you fused with one of the Immortals?" Ouranos nodded with a smile, and Eldros smirked "Well then, that is something." Eldros gestured Ouranos to a seat, as well as Xion, both responded by taking a seat, the three of them eying each other "I understand that our power is being threatened by Earth?" Eldros didn't even need an answer before continuing on "Ah yes, one of the many 'lower worlds' are trying to stand up in the Galaxy," Eldros tutted as he turned to the balcony, staring out into the window "Those lower worlds never learn do they? I think that a lesson has to be put to their attention, let them know how mentally inferior they are to us, but It isn't my decision, as the rest of our brothers are very much late, until then..." A table with tea appeared between the three of them "Let us have tea like the old times, eh?"

[Altito Asmoro]

Len-El

Len finally arrived at Gotham. Wow, it looked worse than the last time,said Len to himself. It's terrible that Gotham didn't recovered much, but it should be expected. Len decided to landed himself on the top of GCPD, hoping that there will be no one there. But of course, it is an overconfidence to think no one will be there, as there are police officers, on the roof of GCPD. About 5, 5 of them, on the top of GCPD. Armed and dangerous as well, apparently.

"What was that?"

"Who are you!"

"No need to be angry, fellow officers. I'm Len-El, Son of Krypton, the Last Man of Zod. I'm here to help you guys to do whatever necessary to bring the city in order."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Seriskira, much like the guy from the meat shop had prophesized, was meditating atop a barren plateau overlooking Tarashkar and the surrounding landscape, though she did not seem very interested in the view, her eyes closed and her face locked in a neutral expression, giving her an air of serenity as her red hair fluttered in the wind. If one didn't know better, one might assume that she was currently asleep, but there were signs to the contrary. For one, her breathing was far too controlled, and beyond that, she was sitting on the same red and white cloth that she had used back at the rainforest of Nerentar a few days ago, with a porcelain teaset laid out in front of her, so, it was illogical to assume that she had come all the way out here just for a nap. This was further supported by the fact that, as soon as Jamal appeared in front of her out of thin air, her eyes shot open and set themselves on the one responsible for disturbing her. She was practically glaring at Jamal, and didn't bother acknowledging his question until several moments had passed.

"This is the second time you disturb me when I happen to be relaxing, human." She said, her voice and her scowl both making it clear that she was upset. After a moment, however, she gave an irritated sigh and calmed down, before gesturing towards the teaset in front of her. "Help yourself." She told him. Taking a hold of her own cup with her claw, she brought it to her lips and drank what remained of tea in it, before refilling her cup.

"So, how is your task coming along?" She asked him, wondering if he had made any progress with the ship.

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"Ha! I've met women with hearts colder than this lot." Akihiko stated as he charged head first into the fray, intending to finish the battle quickly. Despite his boast, if one could even call that a boast, he found the cold quite annoying and distracting, and did not want things to drag on for too long. He simply hoped that the magical green fire engulfing Kusanagi would be enough to destroy the vengeful ice spirits. Meanwhile, Garnet gave a disinterested look at the group of Yuki Onna approaching, and then looked at her weapons, meditating for a moment before opting to discard both the sword and the gauntlet for the time being, believing that the pistol would suffice, as it would deal devastating spiritual damage to these ghosts.

"You know, I wish we could simply skip over the smaller fries and get straight to the point. Clearly only the boss of the stage is going to be any challenge at all." The blonde woman remarked casually as she began firing away at the frozen spectres.

---

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"Oh, we're sisters." Etla said in response to Serene's question as the group continued heading towards the mountain. She didn't really mind the cold; she could feel it, of course, and she did find extreme temperatures annoying, but as she lacked internal organs that interacted with or depended on her internal temperature, unlike human beings, there was no reason for her to struggle with the cold, even with her admittedly unappropiate clothes for such weather. "We weren't really traveling together. I had been looking for Cloudy for a day or two, and Ihra... well, I don't know what she was doing, but it was a coincidence that we arrived to help you two at the same time." The Rainborn explained, glancing at her sister. Before now she hadn't really bothered to think about it, but now, she couldn't help wondering what her sister had been doing around there.

However, she supposed it didn't really matter. In the end, everything was fine. "Didn't the names tip you off? Etla, Ihra, they're pretty similar." The golden-haired woman told the host of the Angel, mostly in order to make small chat. "Oh, is your brother okay? He doesn't look very good." She asked.

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---

Hearing the Reclaimer's first statement, Necromancer nodded, indeed well aware of what the man standing before him was, even if he had no idea of who he was, exactly, or why he was bothering him at the moment. At the next statement, the boy nodded again, there was no reason to deny that he was responsible for it after all, he took pride in his deed and if the servant of Mistress Death tried to stop him, which was already unlikely, all he had to do was overpower him and then be on his way. He nodded a third time when the stranger spoke of his strength, it was good to know that the Reclaimer realized who he was messing with here, it would likely save him a lot of trouble, unless the man before him was out of his mind, which did not seem likely, so far. All throughout this, Necromancer never stopped smiling, or staring at the Reclaimer, one eye still lit with blue fire. Hearing the reaper's questions, the boy's smile widened ever so slightly.

"I have no reason to answer you." Necromancer stated plainly. "But I will do so anyway. These are the souls of the dead, yes. They are as real as you and I, though that might not be a very satisfying answer. I would be lying if I didn't often wonder if everything was just one big joke with no punchline." The boy explained. "Are they permanent? Well, they are, if I want them to be. I did not intend to give these reincarnated souls more than a few days to be with their families, just enough to celebrate the season, but that could always change. I make no promises." He stated. "To answer your last question... who am I kidding? I can't answer your last question. If I knew what curse placed me beside Life and Death, I would tell you. I probably wouldn't be here anyway; if I knew, then I could set things right. But here I am, in front of you. You can see me, even if you can't sense me. Unfortunately, I exist." He said. Glancing to the side, he looked at Darksey and smiled.

"I am glad to hear you like his new look. And now, begone. Your very presence is a taunt to me, one that I will not tolerate further than necessary. If you do not wish to make me angry, now would be a good moment to leave." The boy stated, his smile fading at last. But instead of waiting to see if the Reclaimer would leave, he simply turned around and walked back to the door, knocking on it again for good measure. He could always tear it down and find the people inside the house, but he wanted to at least give them the chance to answer the door before adopting such measures.

"Otis Steredenn?" The boy calle out again, his voice adopting a human, childlike tone once again.

[The Fallen Jedi]

God of Nature Kazuko | God of Peace Shimura

Kazuko sat alongside Asumar, who appeared disillusioned with what had just taken place, trillions of lives, extinguished! Why? out of all the things, when good things were beginning to happen to him, the Dynasty was destroyed under his watch and he failed to protect the Galaxy as well, was he truly the one to succeed Kazuko as the Grand Warlord? "Asumar..." Kazuko whispered, embracing his brother in a warm hug "Don't ever say anything like that again, you are the one to lead our Galaxy into a new golden age, It is true that we have lost everything, but all we need to do is try harder and harder each time." Kazuko gripped Asumar's shoulders and stared at him right in the eyes "We must never lose our hope Asumar, If I must, I will do whatever possible to protect our great home, even If it means throwing the balance of Earth against itself, I will simply not stand for having our home being destroyed for no reason, Xander was entirely out of line..." Kazuko rose up and turned to look towards the stars, the two brothers were still within the Milky Way Galaxy, but relocated to the desolate planet of Mars for the time being "Let me talk to Xander, I'll make things right my brother, I promise..." With this, Kazuko disappeared from Mars, heading towards Earth with a determined expression on his face.

Shimura continued on his way towards the Northern Galaxy, his mindset thrown into chaos as he found himself to unable comprehend Xander's reason to attack the Masaki Galaxy, Alastir wasn't even centered in the Masaki Galaxy anymore! yet Xander decided to lay a hand on the Masaki Galaxy and destroy it, and for what reason?! With anger beginning to bubble in his mind, Shimura came crashing to a halt just outside of the Milky Way Galaxy, he had to go back right now. Shimura's judgement would be determined by Xander's response to his question, and If he answered wrong, Shimura had the power to exercise his power upon Earth, weather they liked it or not "Xander..." Shimura stated inwardly as he backtracked to the planet of Earth, his eyes burning brightly with Emerald Fire "I'll hold you responsible for what just happened, I will not allow this peace to be disrupted at all, If necessary, I will do what must take place!" All that could be seen was a trail of Emerald Energy as he would reach the Earth in a matter of minutes.

[Mavorpen]

A Tale of Life and Death: Chapter II
Endless: Part VI
A Galaxy Far, Far Away...

The ship hovered just above the atmosphere of a nearby planet in a system far, far away. The ship had been the domain of Thanos for many years, and upon its appearance in a system, fear gripped the races who resided in them and detected its presence. Now, the unexpected occurred: the ship was attacked.

The ship violently shook as it was struck by a powerful blast of energy from another ship. The ship looked almost identical to the Sanctuary II. This was no mere coincidence, as the "H" shape of the ship was well known throughout the universe and no one dared to imitate it. The Sanctuary II was bombard by further attacks and it was sent spiraling through the planet's atmosphere and crashed on the surface.

The side of the wrecked ship suddenly exploded, and a hole was formed. From this hole, emerged Thanos alongside his five followers, the Black Order. Roughly a hundred yards away, a figure teleported in front of them. Its identity as unknown, as it was draped in a cloak that obscured its body and face. Still, it was clearly a threat, demonstrably so from its bulky and large frame as well as its mere presence being immensely intimidating.

The Black Order wasted no further time and decided to act. Black Dwarf, Corvus, and Proxima rushed forward to attack the enemy physically, while Supergiant reached into the enemy's mind with her telepathy and sought to take control of it. However, she quickly discovered that it would not be so simple, as she suddenly gripped her head and screamed in pain, then fell to the ground unconscious. "Supergiant's down, take him down, quick!" Corvus called out, now fearing the possibility of a psychic assault from the stranger that would incapacitate them.

Corvus and Proxima attacked from the right and the left, attacking the enemy with their weapons. Contrary to the stranger's bulky stature, he moved far faster than they had anticipated, and he caught the handle of Corvus' halberd and the tip of Proxima's spear. In a swift motion, he brought his arms together, slamming the two into each other and then throwing them away to the side. Black Dwarf roared and swung his right fist at the enemy's head. The stranger caught the fist and punched him in the face, then grabbed his head, and slammed him face first into the ground.

"Who are you?" Thanos grumbled, with Ebony Maw standing beside him. "How dare you not only replicate my ship but attack it, defeat my Black Order, and insult one such as I?"

"How dare I? Pathetic. It is I who should be saying that. How dare YOU..." The stranger pulled back his hood to reveal none other than Thanos. "How dare you impersonate me, clone." Thanos scowled, baring his teeth.

"Did he just say what I think he said?" Black Dwarf asked, getting to his knees and gripping his head as both Corvus and Proxima did the same.

"Yes. You heard me correctly, Black Dwarf. You have been following a mere clone all these years ever since my death during the climax of the Annihilation War. And you..." Thanos pointed at Ebony Maw. "You knew the whole time, did you not? You assisted my clone in fooling not only the rest of the Black Order, but the rest of the universe."

"I..." Ebony Maw began. Then he sighed. "Oh, dear. I expect nothing less from you, Thanos."

"How DARE you betray our master?!" Proxima shouted, preparing to throw her spear at Ebony Maw.

"Stay your hand, Proxima." Thanos ordered. "So, what say you, clone?"

Clone!Thanos smirked and began calmly walking up to Thanos. "How amusing you are. You die at the hands of a pathetic being such as Drax, come back to life, and apparently have been hiding somewhere in the darkest corners of the universe. Yet now, you have the nerve to show your face before me, despite your failings. I suppose you simply cannot come to terms with the fact that I am your superior. I--" He was cut off by a punch to the midsection from Thanos, which was followed by a punch across the skull, which sent Clone!Thanos tumbling to the ground 20 feet away.

"YOU are the failure!" Thanos shouted. "I did not fail. I died. I accomplished my goal!" He snarled as he charged at Clone!Thanos. Clone!Thanos recovered in time to fire a blast of energy from his hands at Thanos. Thanos raised his hands in front of him and blocked the majority of the blast, though some of the energy wrapped around Thanos and ripped apart his cloak and tore much of his makeshift armor to shreds. "Is that all you've got?!" He taunted.

Clone!Thanos roared and poured even more energy into the blast. The beam grew wider and wider as energy built up further and further until it caused a powerful explosion, with Thanos as the epicenter, that shook the planet. Everyone watched in silence as the smoke and debris cleared to reveal Thanos still standing. His eyes glowed red and his teeth were bared as he frowned with contempt. "Pitiful." He spat.

Clone!Thanos once again fired cosmic energy from his hands at Thanos, and Thanos took the blast in full. "Why do you not die?!" Clone!Thanos bellowed.

"Only one Thanos will die here today." Thanos growled. "AND IT WILL BE YOU!" He screamed, firing cosmic energy from his eyes that tunneled through Clone!Thanos's blast, piercing clean through his skull. Clone!Thanos dropped to the ground, dead, and Ebony Maw closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Thanos walked up to him and looked down at the thin alien. "Look at me." Thanos commanded. Ebony Maw ignored Thanos, keeping his eyes closed. Thanos stared down as though he was looking at an insect, and then simply grabbed his head and tore it off.

"M-master?" Supergiant groaned as she regained consciousness and sat up, gripping her head. Thanos turned to face her and the rest of the Black Order. "It is you! I had sensed something wrong with that...other Thanos, but I could not place what exactly what off about him. As soon as I touched your mind however, I knew that it was you--the real Thanos."

"Apologies for rendering you unconscious, Supergiant. My mental defenses are robust and instinctive." Thanos said.

"Of course, Master." Supergiant said, as she knelt down, along with the rest of the Black Order who had walked up next to her and formed a line perpendicular to the Mad Titan.

"Master, what is our next course of action?" Corvus asked.

"Earth." Thanos's eyes glowed bright red.

"Forgive me--I do not mean to undermine the abilities of you nor my fellow embers of the Black Order--however, Earth's defenses has grown to a considerable degree as of late." Proxima said.

"Do not concern yourself with the planet itself. I have grown weary of Earth in its entirety. No. This is about one human in particular. We set out now." Thanos said, walking forward and through the kneeling general to his ship, Sanctuary III.

Earth

Jamal, wake up! Jamal's eyes shot open upon hearing the telekinetic scream from Jessica. He immediately sensed that he wasn't alone in the room and quickly sat up. Upon doing so, his face was grabbed and he felt himself be flung across the room and through the wall in which the door to the bedroom was located. Jamal turned in the air and landed feet first on the wall on the other side of the hallway, and then dropped to the floor. He looked up and watched as his attacker slowly approached him from inside of his bedroom. "Thanos." Jamal frowned. Allowing Thanos to escape back into this universe when he sacrificed himself in the Cancerverse was one of Jamal's biggest regrets of his life. And now, the source of that regret was standing in front of him. As angry as he was though, Jamal understood very well that he couldn't beat Thanos. And so, he ran.

Jamal ran down the hall and then jumped over the railing of the balcony that was above the living room, landing with a roll and facing the balcony. Thanos fell down in front of him. "I want you to call Her here."

"Her? What are you talking about?" Jamal asked.

"Do not play dumb with me, human!" Thanos shouted and suddenly sprang forward, grabbing Jamal before he could react and throwing him to the left, through several walls until he burst through the wall at the front of the mansion entirely. Had Jamal been a normal human, he would have died. Thanos wasn't stupid, and if he wanted something from Jamal, he wouldn't kill him. Thus, Jamal realized that Thanos was very much aware that Jamal still had powers. Whether he thought that Jamal was still a Nova or knew about his current chi based powers, he wasn't entirely sure. He was forced to shove these questions to the back of his mind as he bounced off of the ground in front of the mansion a couple of times until he stopped.

Jamal groaned as he got to his knees and looked up to see Thanos already standing over him. "I can smell Her on you, human. You have spent much time with Her. How is it possible for a mortal such as yourself to have felt Death's touch so much and yet still be living?" Thanos grabbed Jamal and picked him up, lifting him until their faces were level. "Summon Her." He demanded.

"L--look. Even if I wanted to, I don't know." Jamal said. "She just shows up when ever she feels like it."

"Is that so?" Thanos brought Jamal closet and scowled in his face. "Then let us try to get Her attention then, shall we?" With his other hand, Thanos grabbed Jamal's right arm and then squeezed. The resulting CRACK! from Jamal's arm being broken was immediately drowned out from Jamal's howl of pain. Thanos dropped him and smirked. "Yes, scream. Let Her hear your voice loud and clear." He reeled back his right leg and then kicked Jamal, sending him flying about 40 yards away.

Jamal groaned in pain as he rolled over onto his back. He knew that he now had several more broken bones, but he couldn't even begin to pinpoint where, specifically, as his entire body was aching. He coughed up blood as Thanos once again lumbered towards him. "Now now, we can't have you dying just yet. Thanos raised his hand over Jamal and it began glowing with blue cosmic energy. Jamal then felt his bones and flesh being melded as he was healed. Once his body was pretty much fully healed, Thanos then raised his leg and stomped down on Jamal, holding back just enough to crush his body to the point where he didn't die instantly, but his body was nonetheless damaged to a significantly degree. Jamal released his loudest and most pained scream yet as he coughed up more blood.

Jamal's vision grew blurry, and he began shifting in an out of consciousness. His head rolled to the right, and he stared at the ground to his side. Two years ago, Jamal would have probably been begging to die. He had already given up. Now though, he couldn't do it. He closed his eyes and shed a tear. Then, he heard stirring to his side. He opened his eyes to see a pair of black boots. "Finally!" He heard Thanos shout, detecting a hint of disgust in his voice. "You finally show yourself. Yet you do so not for me, but for him?!" No response came. "Well?!"

Jamal suddenly found himself looking down at his dying, physical body. He looked at Thanos facing away from Jamal's body and staring at Mistress Death in front of the mansion. Then, Jamal turned his head down to the left to see Death of the Endless beside him. She looked up at him and smiled. "So, we again meet at the final junction, Jamal. What will be your choice this time, I wonder?"

"You don't mean that, do you?" Jamal asked.

"No. Though I was a bit surprised when you chose last time. You see, I forgot to tell you something...I told you that you were in-between life and death. But, it was far more than that. We were in a place of your creation. It was the result of your mind trying to conceptualize--to understand the concept of being trapped between life and death. Many people have various different conceptualizations of the idea of dying. Yours, however, was special. Never before had I seen one so...content. Not since Thanos."

"...Be that as it may, I can't help but feel as though you knew all of this would happen." Jamal remarked.

"Oh no, that's my elder brother's job." Death grinned.

Jamal chuckled. "I see." Jamal looked up at Thanos, who appeared frozen in time screaming at Mistress Death in front of him. "Well, before I make my choice, I would like to ask two things."

Death smiled. "Shoot."

Jamal asked his two questions. Death appeared taken aback by them, and her eyes widened in surprise in reaction. Then she laughed. She answered the first question, and then it was Jamal's turn to be surprised. "Seriously?!" He exclaimed in utter disbelief. Then he pointed a Thanos. "Him? You're joking, right?"

Death smiled and shook her head. "Nope. Funny, isn't it?"

"Not so much as funny as it is sad, honestly." Jamal said. "And my second question?"

"It's more of a request than a mere question." Death said. Then she tapped her chin with her index finger with an inquisitive look on her face. "Hmm. Ah, what the heck? I agree. Though, your request spoils the surprise behind your answer."

"You already know what my answer is. We just went over this." Jamal said.

"Yes, but I need to hear it from your own mouth. I ask you again...Which do you choose? Life, or Death?" She asked.

"Life, of course." Jamal said without a shred of hesitation.

"Yes, of course. Oh, before I forget, I have a gift for you." Death held out her hand and a sphere of yellow-orange glowing energy appeared above her palm. Jamal immediately felt a sense of nostalgia, as he quickly recognized what was being presented to him. And then, he smiled.

"ANSWER ME!" Thanos roared at Mistress Death. All of a sudden, she vanished without a trace. "You dare ru--!" Thanos began, when suddenly a burst of energy exploded from behind him. He turned around, and scowled.

["Attention. I repeat: It is critical that you pay attention at this time. This is a message to all Nova Corps members in the universe. I am Worldmind. And I am here to joyously tell you that your Nova Prime has returned."]

Jamal looked up at Thanos from his crouching position. His Nova Prime suit was relatively the same--it maintained the same blue, yellow, and red color scheme, however, the structure of the suit had been tweaked. The spikes in particular were more prominent, including that of the helmet, and the three lights on the chest plate were also hexagonal rather than circular. Lightning-like orange energy from the Nova Force sparked and leaked out of Jamal as he took a deep breath, reveling in the feeling of once more having the near limitless source of energy housed within him.

Thanos jumped into the air and plummeted down at Jamal, reeling back for a punch. Jamal stood up, raised his right hand, and fired a gravimetric beam at Thanos. The light from the beam flashed for a fraction of a second, and then when it was over, Thanos was gone. Jamal was silent for a second. "What the hell was that?! I just wanted to knock him back and give him a warning shot, not send him across the damn solar system!" He exclaimed, tracking Thanos' trajectory on his visor.

["It would appear that we have received an upgrade."]

"Alright then, well, let's chase after him." Jamal said, and he rocketed off of the ground.

Within a microsecond, Thanos had suddenly found himself flung from Earth to the outer edge of the Kuiper Belt. "GRAHHH--!" Thanos began to shout when suddenly something rammed into him.

"Too fast, too fast!" Jamal shouted as he and Thanos traveled through the Milky Way and crossed thousands of galaxies in a second until they crashed into a large star, which violently exploded. Within moments, the remains of the sun collapsed and formed a large black hole. Naturally, this was not a natural occurrence, and Jamal had been the one who had accelerated the formation of the star into a black hole. He also manipulated the black hole to spit the two of them out halfway across the universe in another system. "When will you learn? You cannot kill me, you naive human!" Thanos shouted as they flew at another planet at lightspeeds and crashed.

["Sorry about that. I've regained control. Mostly."]

"Mostly? What does that mean?" Jamal said, both he and Thanos standing up--the two roughly 50 feet away from one another. " By the way, Thanos! I'm not trying to kill you. Just stall you." He said, grinning as two hundred stargates opened up in the sky, and out of each one, emerged a Nova Corps member. Suddenly, teleportation beams emerged in front of Thanos and from them emerged Thanos's Black Order.

"What are you doing? I told you, this is between me and the human." Thanos said.

"He has brought his Nova Corps lackeys to gang up on you, Master." Corvus hissed, baring his fangs at Jamal.

"Enough. The human hopes this pathetic attempt to flex his authority over the Nova Corps will deter me from continuing this fight. He has no desire to actually involve them in this fight. Isn't that right, Nova Prime?" Thanos growled.

"Oh man, you caught me." Jamal shrugged nonchalantly. "Frankly, I'd love nothing more than to have them kill all of you. And then when you come back to life, Thanos, we could just do it again. And again. And again. But I won't. I just want to talk."

"Talk?" Thanos scoffed, walking through the Black Order, who parted and made an opening for the Mad Titan. "Does it seem like I am interesting in 'talking'?"

"No. I suppose not." Jamal simply said. Thanos made a sinister grin and then charged at Jamal. Jamal sighed and also charged. The two threw a punch at each other and their fists clashed, shaking the planet beneath them. Thanos brought down his fists and Jamal caught them with each individual hand. The two immediately began pouring energy into each other and their surroundings. Thanos's armor cracked a little and Jamal smirked.

Thanos bared his teeth. "You think this is enough to put me down? I can easily survive the destruction of this galaxy if necessary." He snarled. Jamal knew very well that he wasn't bluffing and that he was entirely right. Jamal was pouring out enough energy to obliterate half the galaxy, and the crazy thing was that he was still not tapping entirely into the Nova Force. This was because he was afraid of his power. Jamal had absolutely no qualms with admitting that, as it meant that he cared. His goal was not to harm the people around him, especially the Nova Corps members. Thankfully, Thanos failed to realize his plan. Thanos had assumed that Jamal was using his full power, however, in reality, he had formed an invisible force field around himself that was reflecting a substantial amount of Thanos's own power back at him.

"Worldmind, do it now." Jamal said.

["Message relayed. Opening stargate."]

Blue energy exploded outwards and quickly encapsulated Jamal and Thanos. The Nova Corps members formed a hemisphere around the two with a diameter of about 200 yards and outstretched their hands. The energy stopped upon reaching that distance, and formed a dome. "What are you doing?!" Thanos shouted as they became encased in a fiery inferno of blue energy that burned as bright as a blue star.

"Remember when I said that I'm not trying to kill you? I was lying." Space itself warped around the two and Thanos was ripped apart on the atomic level. He didn't even have enough time to release one last defiant scream.

"What foolishness is this?" Thanos grumbled, looking down at the ash remains of his physical body. He looked around and saw everyone--from Jamal the Nova Corps to the Black Order all frozen in time. A bright light flashed to his right and Thanos looked to see Jamal appear, dressed in his typical civilian clothing of a white t-shirt and some jeans.

"Now, before you get all upset, don't bother, you're--" Jamal began.

"Dead." Thanos finished for him.

"...Yes." Jamal confirmed. "But, not exactly. You're trapped in between life and death.

Thanos was silent for a few seconds before his eyes glowed red. "Did She give you this power?"

"She did." Jamal nodded. "She also let me borrow another ability." Jamal waved his hand and in front of them, a white light shined. "Now, let's take a look into your past." The two disappeared and they found themselves standing in the hallway of a hospital, just outside of a door. From inside of the room, they heard the screaming of a woman.

Jamal looked up at Thanos, seeing a dark shadow cast over his face. "Why have you brought me here?"

"Just follow." Jamal said. "If you don't, then I can just leave you here permanently. Would you rather stay here and repeatedly watch the entirety of your life for all eternity, or do you want to just get it over?" Jamal didn't wait for a verbal response and he walked through the door as though it wasn't even there. After a moment's hesitation, Thanos followed him.

"What's wrong? Why does it hurt so much? Why isn't he crying?!" The same female voice shouted.

"The baby's tangled in the cord! Quickly!" Thanos and Jamal watched the doctor rush over to the side of the room and set something wrapped in a blanket down in a rectangular tray on the table against the wall.

"By all that's hole..." The nurse whispered, standing next to the doctor.

"Doctor, is the baby...?" A man asked as he rushed up to between the nurse and the doctor.

"I'm sorry, A'Lars, but I'm afraid it's...it's going to live. We'll run every genetic test there is and we'll find out why this has happened." The doctor said.

A'Lars pushed the doctor aside angrily and picked up the newborn. "Keep your hands off my child!" He shouted. I don't need your damn tests to tell me what I can see with my own two eyes. Look at him...! So perfect. So strong. The child who refused to die. My darling Thanos."

"A'Lars, let me see my son." The woman lying in the medical bed stated.

"Of course, Sui-San. Go to your mother now, little one." A'Lars said, handing the woman the newborn Thanos. "Let her see the gift she has brought to the world." Sui-San looked down at the newborn and her eyes widened in horror. "Wife? What's wrong?" Sui-San immediately reached for the medical scalpel housed on the tray next to her bed and tried to stab the newborn Thanos. "SUI-SAN, STOP!" A'Lars shouted as he grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me, A'Lars! We have to kill it before it grows! You must let me kill it!" Sui-San shouted.

"Doctor, sedate her, hurry!" A'Lars shouted. The doctor rushed over and stuck a needle into Sui-San's neck.

"Look at it's eyes! Can't you see the Death in its eyes?! If we don't kill it now, we're all going to..."Sui-San began shouting when she suddenly grew weak and her body slumped backwards. "...all going to die." She said weakly. "T--that thing isn't my son... that's a monster." Finally, she went unconscious, and Jamal glanced up at the present Thanos. On the outside, Thanos showed little sign of being phased, however, Jamal could feel it. He could feel Thanos shaking--ever so slightly--and the powerful murderous intent emanating from him.

"Let's move on." Jamal said. The world around them shifted, and the two found themselves in the middle of a small circular field. Around them, a number of pre-teens wearing school uniforms were running around and playing with a red ball. Others were sitting on the stairs to the right and left of the circle and talking. And sitting on the outskirts of the circle, was a young Thanos who was looking down at a book and appeared to be writing something. Jamal was actually quite shocked to see the young Thanos, as his thin body and non-scowling face were a far cry from the current, older Thanos. Jamal watched as three students approached the sitting Thanos.

"You look weird." A redheaded student said. Thanos looked up from the book and at the students.

"My unusual appearance is merely the result of a simple genetic mutation. I assure you, it's nothing contagious." Young!Thanos replied.

"You're one of Mentor's sons, aren't you? We've heard about you." A blonde student said.

And then, Young!Thanos did something that Jamal never thought he'd ever see any Thanos do. Young!Thanos held up his hands in front of him and said, "Please...I don't want any trouble."

"Everyone says you're the smartest kid in school, you know." The redheaded kid said. "It's supposed to be playtime right now, so why are you sitting here all by yourself?"

Young!Thanos hesitated for a second, still processing the statement the kid had said about everyone thinking he was the smartest student in the school. "I'm just...drawing. I like to draw sometimes."

"Well then, would you like to engage in frivolous childhood games with us, Thanos, son of Mentor?" The redheaded kid asked.

Young!Thanos's jaw dropped and then it slowly formed a small smile as his eyes lit up with excitement. "I...Why, yes. Yes, I suppose I would." He set his book down and he and the other students ran off to play.

"Well that was...creepy." Jamal said. "Y'know, I don't get it. This doesn't seem like the story of a universal cosmic threat to me. Looks to me like you were loved as a kid."

"Bah." Thanos spat. "That was not love. Further, what good is love if it does not come from those that are truly the most important?"

Their surroundings shifted once again and they found themselves in the lab of A'Lars, who was sitting at a computer and staring at a vial of orange liquid with Young!Thanos standing behind him. "So, for the annual Celebration of Science, I thought that I would prepare a report on my genetic makeup in order to explain the difference of my appearance compared to the other children. May I have access to our family files? Particularly the story of how you and mother met... Father?"

A'Lars turned around. "Thanos? Did you say something? Can't you see that I'm busy?"

Young!Thanos's eyes drooped down as a sad frown formed on his face. "It...it was nothing, father. I'll leave you to your work."

The surroundings again shifted and they found themselves in a white padded room. In the corner sat Sui-San, constrained in a straight jacket, and Young!Thanos, sitting on the other side of the room. "I have this strange recurring dream. In it, I'm a newborn, and I hear someone screaming and see someone trying to stab me with a knife." Young!Thanos smiled. "Thankfully it's only a dream. And besides, I've found that I can simply fix it by not sleeping anymore. He stood up and walked over to his mother and knelt down in front of her. Tears immediately began streaming down her face and she looked down at the ground, avoiding looking at him. "I've been developing my own genus of flowers. I'll bring you some tomorrow. Maybe then you'll feel like coming home, mother." He smiled.

The surroundings shifted and they found themselves in a classroom that was relatively empty save for Young!Thanos, some other students, their professor, and a tray sitting on a thin energy table. In the tray lied the corpse of a lizard resembling an iguana the size of a dog. "We will begin with an incision along the stomach and your goal will be to identify the major organs. There will be some blood, but do not worry, these creatures all died of natural causes. We are, after all, scientists, not monsters. Young!Thanos looked down at the corpse and placed his hand over his mouth. Gagging, he rushed out of the room, with the professor calling after him asking if he was alright.

Jamal and Thanos followed Young!Thanos out of the building and watched as he violently threw up. Suddenly, a girl appeared, walking up to the hacking Young!Thanos. "Yeah, dissection is always rough the first time. It gets easier though."

"I don't want it to get easier. I don't ever want to cut open another living thing." Young!Thanos said, wiping his mouth clean.

"Ha!" The girl laughed. "How can you possible follow in your father's footsteps and become a great scientist if you get all squeamish over one little green tail."

"I..." Young!Thanos looked away. "Then maybe that's not who I'm meant to be."

The girl grinned. "Follow me. I know a very special place--one that will help you get over your fears. Trust me, it's quite fascinating. You'll never forget it." Jamal frowned. There was clearly something wrong with this girl, though he couldn't put his finger on it.

The surroundings shifted and they found themselves inside of a cave. Young!Thanos was leading a small group of fellow students into the cave, each holding flashlights. "Thanos, are you sure this is safe?"

Young!Thanos smiled. "Yes. The jeweled formations are said to be incredible. We might even find some gems. This way, just follow me."

"Erm, where did you say you heard about this place again, Thanos?" Suddenly, the cave began rumbling. The cave began shaking and the walls and ceiling collapsed around them.

The scenery shifted and Jamal and Thanos watched Young!Thanos digging through the chunks of rock in front of him. "Anyone there?" He sighed. "Three days of digging. I hope I find the others soon." He turned to see a bunch of large lizards, each the size of a large dog and a different color. He smiled. "It's okay, I promise I won't eat any of you, no matter how hungry I grow." He continued digging until he heard noise ahead, and broke through a crevice. Light shined through the opening. "Cythera? Guys? Is that you? Are you hu--" Young!Thanos's eyes widened as he saw the corpses of the other students lying on the ground and being eaten by six of the lizard creatures.

"Damn..." Jamal muttered as their surrounding shifted. Young!Thanos was sitting in front of the cave, staring at the ground.

"They blamed me, of course." Thanos spoke up. "Of course, they dared not admit it aloud, and they had not believed that I had done it intentionally. No, that came later. Only later after I became the being I am now did they come to believe that I had personally murdered them and that the monster hiding inside me had first emerged in those dark caves." Young!Thanos looked up to see one of the lizard creatures walk up to him. His eyes glowed slightly a dark, bloody red as he learned forward and reached his hands out to the creature. "They would only be half right, of course."

"It's okay." A voice said from behind Young!Thanos. "What you're feeling right now is natural. It's not wrong."

"Leave me alone. You know nothing about me." He grumbled as the girl from before had once again appeared and approached him.

She walked around and looked down at his face. "I know that if you really loved them, you'd let nothing hold you back." She smiled and threw a knife down at the ground in front of him. Young!Thanos looked up at the girl, his eyes filled with hatred and he picked up the knife. He stood up and began walking to the cave entrance. The girl, as well as Thanos and Jamal, followed him as he climbed and dug his way through the cave until he reached the dwelling of the lizard creatures. "Yes...show them who you are, Thanos of Titan." The girl grinned devilishly, watching Young!Thanos slaughter the creatures with the knife.

"Why is it always a girl?" Jamal sighed. The surroundings shifted again. They found themselves in a classroom. It was a sight Jamal knew all too well--save for the futuristic design of the room, the chairs, desks, etc. The students, including Young!Thanos, all had a tray before them--each containing the corpse of a lizard creature. "Final exam?" Jamal guessed.

"Alright students, your final examination will consist of a full dissection of your specimen and labeling of all major organs and organ systems, including the pus veins, breeding fangs, and... Thanos?" The professor frowned as Young!Thanos stood up and began walking towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"I'm finished." Young!Thanos said.

"W-what? How could you possibly be--"

"I filleted my specimen from tail to chin and labeled the entirety of its insides, including a dozen points of interest you failed to mention in your lectures. I also took the liberty of cataloging the stomach contents, extrapolating its life history, and determining the cause of death. Brain aneurysm. I men no disrespect, but I've absorbed all there is to learn from the feeble creature, and from you as well, professor. Good day." Alt!Thanos left the room and he was immediately greeted by the same girl from before, who was standing with her back against the hallway's left wall.

"Bit harsh, wasn't it?" She asked.

"Do you ever go to class?" Young!Thanos asked her.

"Not if I can help it." She grinned. "You're bored, aren't you? I can see it in your eyes. Of course you are. You're the smartest person in the history of this school, and not even the professors can keep up with you. Tell me...what do you do to stave off that boredom?"

Jamal and Thanos then found themselves in a facility on the surface of Titan that Young!Thanos had created. Various jars containing the remains of different animal species from the planet littered the room. In the center of the room was a large ape-like creature strapped to a bed and being held upright. "My, you have been quite busy." The girl said, looking around at the jaws. "And you've even managed to capture a cave ape." She grinned. "Quite the escalation from green tails and ice rats. Are you sure you are ready for this?"

"The incidence in the caves was a moment of weakness for me. I am not a mindless savage. I am a scientist. My hunger is for knowledge, not blood." Thanos said as he typed on the keyboard of the computer he was using. Then, he stood up and walked over to the ape, knife in hand, as the bed the ape was strapped to began leaning backwards until it was parallel to the ground. He then began meticulously dissecting the ape.

Jamal watched intensely as Young!Thanos worked. Then, Thanos spoke up. "I can sense it, you know. I can feel the question being repeated in your mind. 'Why is he doing this?' Ironically, the desire for answers is precisely the motivation for me at this point in time. By 12, I had explored every inch of Titan. By 13, I had walked upon the core of Saturn. By 15, I had mapped the stars of a thousand galaxies. All in the pursuit of answers. Who am I? Why am I here? Why am I different? What is my destiny? I needed to know. In the end, I found nothing."

Young!Thanos slumped back into his chair, looking down at the floor disappointed. "It is clear that you have failed to find what you seek." The girl said, walking in front of him and looking down at him. He looked up at her. "Perhaps it is time for you to accept that when it comes to answers, you are still looking in the wrong place." Young!Thanos stared at her face and then leaned in closer. She pulled back. "No. I'm afraid you won't find what you're seeking there, either."

Young!Thanos frowned. "But I..." Then he roared and knocked the nearest set of jars next to him over. "I am tired of this. My parents have failed me, my school has failed me, and even science fails me."

"Oh, Thanos. Come now, it's time to face reality. The truth is, you haven't even begun looking." She said.

The scene shifted and Jamal and Thanos were still in the lab, however, they now saw Young!Thanos standing in front of two teenage Eternals strapped to surgical beds upright. He looked down at a surgical tray and then picked up a knife. "I want you both to know...that I will remember this moment forever." He said, looking at the two, his eyes glowing bright red.

"This was truly the turning point." Thanos said, glancing down at Jamal. "In the centuries between the founding of the underground city of my people and up to this point, there was not a single recorded instance of murder. No crimes of passion. No executions. No acts of war. It was said that in the city, there did not even exist the concept of murder. Until I invented it."

The surroundings shifted and they found themselves at the dining table of Thanos's family. Sitting at the table was A'Lars, Sui-San, and Young!Thanos. Jamal raised an eyebrow at the fourth figure in the room, who was a blue humanoid being--wearing a blue cape and whose body was covered in what seemed to be stars--floating next to A'Lars. A'Lars called him father, and Jamal then realized the being to be Kronos. The two were arguing with each other over the two missing teenagers that Thanos had killed, with the blue being insisting that the two were abducted and most likely murdered while A'Lars argued that such a thing was impossible.

"Where the hell is Eros?" A'Lars stood up with Kronos floating behind him and berating him about finding the murderer, leaving Young!Thanos alone with his mother.

"I know." Sui-San said, without looking up. "I know what you are."

"No, you don't." Young!Thanos said. "And neither do I."

The scene shifted and Jamal and Thanos found themselves on the surface of the moon, standing a couple of feet away from the girl and Young!Thanos, who was filling a hole with a shovel. Several other mounds littered the area, indicating that other holes had been made and then filled as well. "I should have never involved you. I brought you merely to tell you that it's over. All of this. The more I learn, the more I realize that some questions are best left unanswered."

The girl began laughing. "Oh please, are you trying to tell me that you didn't enjoy yourself? Sure looks to me like you did."

"How DARE you!" He shouted. "I am not some common butcher! I am a scientist! This experiment has run its course. From this day forward, Thanos will never kill again!"

The surroundings again shifted, and Young!Thanos was busy making a hole for a new body that was covered by a bodybag while the girl watched. Jamal looked up at Saturn and frowned. "Judging by the position of the planet, this can't have been even a month later." He said, to which Thanos grunted in affirmation.

"You were right." Young!Thanos said, his voice shaking. "I enjoyed it."

"It is nothing to be ashamed of, Thanos." The girl said. "This is your true nature. This is what you were born to be."

"Run away with me." He said. "You're the only one who understands me. We can find our place in the stars together, far far away from here. Please, let me hold you just one ti--" Thanos said, approaching her with his arms outstretched. The girl slapped him and scowled.

"You think you deserve love, Thanos? You think you deserve my love? You are weak. You are mewling and hopelessly pathetic, Thanos of Titan. You are a child. You are a coward. You are a lonely little boy-god afraid of his own shadow. You are not worthy of anyone's love. You have already found the only love you'll ever know." She pointed to the corpse. "Now bury it."

The scene shifted and they found themselves back in Thanos's lab. Young!Thanos was sitting in a chair, staring at someone who was strapped upright in a surgical bed. "Damn it, Thanos." Jamal muttered with a frown. Young!Thanos looked over at the surgical tray beside him.

"I have killed 17 people so far. Mostly children. I convinced myself that I was looking for answers to the secrets of the cosmos. To my destiny. To the mysteries of my own DNA." He stood up and began putting on surgical gloves. "That was a lie. I killed them because I have too much love in my heart, and no place to put it, no one to give it to. I killed them because I liked it. Because the only time I don't feel alone is when I am killing someone." He picked up the surgical knife. "That makes me a monster, doesn't it? I never asked to be born this way. I just wanted someone to love. And for someone to love me back. There has to be an answer to why this happened. To why I am the way I am. There is, unfortunately, nowhere else left to look." He turned and walked up to the restrained person, pointing the tip of the blade at the person's chest. "I'm sorry, mother, but the key to who I am is somewhere inside of you. And once I have found it and cut it out of you, I won't have to be a monster anymore."

Jamal watched the teenage Thanos meticulously dissect his mother, only walking away occasionally to change the tool he used. Thanos glanced down at Jamal and scoffed. "You witness the birth of a monster and yet you do not flinch. Is it perhaps that you also enjoy the sight? Perhaps you are as depraved as even I."

"Stop the lies, Thanos. You don't enjoy watching this." Jamal said. "Why else would you go through the trouble of telling me this?"

Thanos scowled and simply continued watching until Young!Thanos was finished. He looked down at the surgical tools and sighed. "Sometimes I can remember the day I was born. I remember you holding me for the first time, and the look of horror that came to your face. Then you picked up a scalpel and tried to murder me. I am sorry, mother. I'm truly sorry they wouldn't let you."

"If you were hoping for more visions of my adolescence, I'm afraid that there will likely be no more." Thanos said. "After this, I fled the city and Titan altogether. I made my way to the outer rim of the galaxy. Law was scare, and no one would notice one more murderer among many. This is where, for the very first time, instead of taking life, I made it."

Their surroundings shifted and they found themselves in a hospital room where an alien woman was sitting upright in a mechanical medical bed. To her side, facing away from her, was a now older Thanos--who more resembled the current through his large and bulky frame--holding a blanket. "Oh Thanos, isn't he beautiful? Our beautiful son." The alien woman smiled.

Young!Thanos looked down at the newborn covered in the blanket. "Is there a monster inside you as well, little one?" He grumbled low enough so that no one else in the room could hear him. "Or is it just in me?"

"Let me guess, you didn't stick around." Jamal said, crossing his arms.

"No. I left, and took a menial job on a pirate ship called the Horkos. I saw galaxies I never knew existed and encountered alien species he'd never imagined." Thanos said.

Their surroundings changed and they found themselves in the middle of Young!Thanos and the pirates he was working for raiding a Shi'ar ship. Young!Thanos merely watched as the Shi'ar were slaughtered.

"Are you going to just stand there and watch?" A shirtless man snarled, walking up to Young!Thanos. His outward appearance was very much human, and he had a large unkempt beard and a scar down his left eye. In his right hand he held a sword and in his left he held an axe. "Every man on my crew kills, boy. I haven't seen you kill a single damn thing."

"If you recall captain, had I not jammed their signal capabilities, you would not be standing on his vessel." Young!Thanos said.

"Hear that, crew?! Thanos here doesn't have the heart for killing!"

"No. And I never will." Young!Thanos said as he walked away.

"I quickly grew weary of being a pirate." Thanos said. "I also grew weary of being a father. And yet, I could not bear to tear myself away from either pursuit. I bed many women from many different species. I produced countless offspring. Perhaps initially, I did these acts to simply force myself to feel. But it wasn't enough. It was never enough to make me care. I found myself struggling to put the thought of my homeworld and my mother away from my mind. Most especially her."

"The girl." Jamal said.

They next found themselves watching the pirate captain violently beat on Young!Thanos. He pointed at the sword next to Young!Thanos, who had been knocked to the ground. "Coward!" He showed. "Pick up that sword and die like a man!"

Young!Thanos smirked. "Oh, please. I came here knowing very well what you had in store for me. You know I'm no coward. It's not cowards you're afraid of. It's anyone with half a brain. Which is exponentially more than you posses." The captain roared and ran his sword through Young!Thanos's midsection.

"Let's see how smart you are with no damn head, boy." He raised his sword above him and Young!Thanos closed his eyes, seeming to accept death. Young!Thanos opened his eyes mere moments later and looked down, seemingly in complete shock at the fact that he was now holding the captain's sword in his right hand and the captain had been chopped to pieces in front of him with the crew all around him chanting "captain!" repeatedly.

The scene changed and the two looked upon Young!Thanos back in the city of the Eternals, and looking down at a gravestone that read: Here lies Sui-San. Wife. Mother. Most beautiful of Eternals. "Back home, huh? I have a good idea of what's about to happen next." Jamal said.

"Yes. She appeared." Thanos said. Young!Thanos turned to see the girl from before, but now aged into a woman and wearing a dark green cloak. "Once again, I confessed my love for her after she had informed me that she could smell the scent of the various women I had been with over the years as well as my offspring. Once again, she teased me, telling me that she needed to know that I would belong only to her. I understood immediately. And so, I began systematically slaughtering every woman I had lied with as well as every child I had created. Of course, the trail of death had not ended there."

The surroundings shifted and they found themselves in the remains of a destroyed city. Young!Thanos, dressed in armor virtually identical in design to his current armor, stood and watched his pirate crew salvage anything of use. Suddenly, a male native of the planet charged at him with a knife. "Die, you monster!" Young!Thanos simply smacked the man away. "How could you?! You took everyone from me!"

"If it's any consolation, I chose this world at random. The deaths of your family meant nothing to me. I did this because of love."

"Liar! If there is justice to be had in this wretched existence, you will suffer for the wrongs you've done!"

"I do suffer. She makes sure of that." Young!Thanos said, glancing back at the ship. "If you wish to see an end to the suffering, she is the one to whom you should be sobbing. Go to her and tell her what I have done and ask if it's finally enough. She's just inside of the ship in the captain's chambers. She lies in bed and listens to the screams. GO ASK HER IF THIS IS ENOUGH!" He shouted. The man nervously walked over to the ship and went inside. After about five minutes, he came back out, fell to his knees, and vomited. "Well? What did she say?"

"She...she said nothing." The man said.

"Then it's not enough."

"She said nothing because she--" The man screamed out in pain as Thanos fired a beam of energy at him, incinerating him instantly.

Jamal frowned and began walking to the ship himself. He made his way to the captain's chambers and his eyes widened to see on the bed not the woman, but a mangled corpse. His eyebrows furrowed as a frown formed on his face. Realization dawned upon him and he whipped around. "THANOS!" He shouted, and he then found himself in a void of whiteness and standing in front of Thanos. "Explain." Jamal demanded. Thanos's eyes merely glowed slightly, and their surroundings shifted again.

They found themselves in Young!Thanos's lab on the pirate ship and the woman walked in. "The climax is approaching." Thanos said, watching his younger self and the woman begin to speak to each other. "Again, she teased me. Again, I asked her when it would be enough. She berated me, stating that she could not love me as long as I was interested in asking that question in the first place. She wanted become a God. She claimed that I was afraid. Afraid of myself, and the world where I was born. I broke down."

"Guards!" Young!Thanos roared. When the guards came into the lab, he pointed at the woman. "Take her away and lock her in the darkest, coldest cell you can find! Maybe then she'll warm to my touch!" The guards looked at each other, confusion plastered on their faces. "Don't just stand there!"

"With all due respect, captain..." One of the guards spoke up. "Her who?" The woman began laughing, and Young!Thanos rushed over, grabbing her arm.

"Why can't they see you? What have you done, woman?" He asked.

"You know very well why, Thanos." She smiled. "Because no one can. No one ever has. No one but you, Thanos."

Young!Thanos's mouth gaped open as he looked down at the woman in disbelief. "But my men..."

"They believe you to be mad. They see you arguing with thin air, or dragging rotting corpses into your bed chambers, only to sob and beg them to touch you."

"No...this can't..."

"Go ahead, Thanos dear. Tell me my name. Surely you must know it. Oh, what the heck." She pulled at her scalp and chest, and her flesh was torn from her body, leaving herself as merely a skeleton. "I'm Death, you idiot boy. The only being in creation you've ever loved and who could possibly love you back. And I will love you, Thanos. What's the matter, my love?" She asked, watching as he reeled back in horror and took a step backwards. "Am I not more beautiful than ever?" He fired a blast of energy through her skull and then ran away. "Thanos? Where are you going, dear?"

Jamal and Thanos then found themselves standing on a platform. Behind them was an inferno of flames and in front of them was Young!Thanos, fighting off his own crew members who appeared to be trying to stop him from going into the fire behind them. He walked forward, with one of the crewmates on his back. Thanos and Jamal turned as he walked through them and to the edge of the platform, directly in front of the inferno. "Captain! The combustion chamber's flames wi--" was all he could muster as he was then burned alive. Young!Thanos stared down at the flames before him.

"One step. Just one step, and I would have died." Thanos said. "I had not hesitated when I murdered my own children and every one of my lovers. Nor when I razed world after world. Nor when eviscerating my own mother. It was at this point that I had finally found someone I could not kill." Young!Thanos fell to his knees and buries his face in his hands. "Myself." Jamal and Thanos followed his younger self out of the chamber, and watched him meet Death.

"Foolish Thanos. Suicide is never the answer. Only murder is."

"You did this to me. You made me a monster." Young!Thanos said, looking at the ground in defeat.

"Ha! You were born a monster, Dear. Even your mother saw that. I just helped you along. Thanos, I promise you, I will love you." She placed a bony hand on his chest. "Just say the words and make it so."

Thanos looked up and faced one of his crew members. "Take us to Titan." He growled.

Thanos and Jamal then found themselves standing beside Young!Thanos standing over the last Eternal alive in the obliterated city underneath Titan: A'Lars. "Wedding? What madness do you speak of?"

"Death will be my bride, father."

"You mock me and the thousands you've slaughtered here today. You truly believe you can see Death and wish to wed her? This is why you kill?"

"Is he really your blood? Not seeing the resemblance." Death smiled, staring down at A'Lars.

"She's standing right next to you, father. Mocking you."

A'Lars suddenly stood up and ran to a computer across the room. After pressing some buttons, a large number of circular screens filling the room's walls lit up and showed the outlines of himself and Young!Thanos. "Look at this, boy! I'm scanning on every wavelength possible. I see only a troubled boy and his father. I am a scientist, Thanos. Nothing can hide from my science. If a thing truly exists, it's energy can be detected in one form or another. You are a scientist, my son. There is no one here but us. This woman you feel you love does not exist except in your broken mind. Thanos, you can't blame your sins on an imaginary friend because you choose to kill. You don't love Death. You've only love yourself."

"No." Thanos said, gripping his head.

"He lies, Thanos! Look at me, I'm right here! Kiss me and feel for yourself that I'm real!" Death exclaimed.

"Enough!" Young!Thanos shouted, knocking his father away. "Death is too good for you, Mentor of Titan. You will watch your son defile the cosmos." With that, he walked away.

"Wait!" Death shouted, chasing after him. "You don't seriously believe your father's lies, do you?" She asked, grabbed his hand and stopping him.

"How do I know... I'm not mad?" Thanos asked.

"Because you know love when you feel it." Death said, leaning closer to him. And then, they kissed. "Come now, there are more worlds to burn!" She smiled and walked away.

Young!Thanos touched his lips. "Cold. Her kiss...so cold and..."

Suddenly, Jamal and Thanos found themselves back on the planet where Jamal had killed him, time still appeared frozen. "Thanos..." Jamal said. "You have to stop. Surely you've realized it by now."

"And if I have?" Thanos asked. "What would it change, exactly? Do you believe I can simply change? Do you truly understand what it means for me to 'understand'? DO YOU?!" Thanos shouted.

Jamal frowned. "Thanos, don't play games with me. I know what you're doing. You're asking me if I believe that all of this is in your nature. You're asking me if I believe that you were destined to become this way. You're asking me that if I'm right, whether that means that you made these decisions yourself. Well, you know what? I don't know. And I don't fucking care, to be frank. None of those questions are the important question. What. Do. You. Feel?"

Thanos hesitated. "I feel...alone." He grumbled.

"STILL? You STILL beat around the bush?!" Jamal shouted. "Face it. The Death you fell in love with doesn't exist. She never has and she never will. You're a child, Thanos. A scared, lonely child who was obsessed with Life, not Death. You were obsessed with your life. You didn't want to die alone. You wanted to be loved, and the inability for anyone to truly love you forced you to face your own mortality. You want to know how I know that? Because I understand. When Xandar was destroyed right in front of me, I was forced to face my own mortality. Ever since then, I've been chasing an obsession with Life. Every day, I've been haunted by the question of 'Why me?' Why the hell did I have to survive? Why did I have to live with that? Why did the cosmos choose me? The answer? It fucking didn't. And I came to terms with that. Now you need to. Give me your answer, Thanos. ANSWER ME!" Thanos stared down at Jamal for a few seconds with a neutral expression in an attempt to mask his thoughts. And then, he spoke.

Time resumed once more, and Thanos's ashen remains began swirling around, like a twister, and a bright light shined. Moments later, Thanos was reformed completely. The Black Order began rushing forward, when Thanos suddenly raised his hand. "Stop. We are done here."

"But--" Corvus began.

"I SAID STOP!" Thanos snarled. He looked up into the sky and watched as the Sanctuary III descended down and landed behind them. The members of the Black Order, each with a scowl on their face, turned and began walking to the ship. Suddenly, Mistress Death appeared in front of Thanos, though she could only be seen by himself and Jamal. Thanos looked down at her and raised his hand towards her cheek. He stopped his hand mere inches away from her face, and then he lowered it. Then, he simply turned and walked away.

[The Republic of Atria]

Xander was busy conducting scans on his Motherbox as Shimura walked in. "I thought I closed that door... You know what, not important. I'm busy. Make it quick, I've got things I'm working on. STOP PINGING YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT! I know you're broken! Tell me what's wrong so I can fix it!" He shouted at the Motherbox, but failed to get a response. "Now you ignore me? Great." He said and rubbed the side of his head. Being a biologist had it's pluses, but he knew very little about engineering. Not to mention the fact that the Motherbox was some of the most advanced technology ever created. Even if he was an engineer, he wouldn't be able to do much anyways. "Hmm. Maybe Otis's or Cyborg's is working. I wonder if there's any way to connect them..." Xander had already forgotten about Shimura's presence until the old man caught his eye again.

"You're still here? I know why. And I'm going to answer your question before you ask it. I had no intentions to keep it that way. I told him plenty of times that I was going to do it if he didn't stop and he refused to listen. It's called a show of force. I'm sick and tired of that idiot going on rampages because he's upset that the universe is unfair. He's acting like a child." He explained without facing Shimura, his eyes locked on the Kryptonian symbols on the computer. "And I disciplined him. I admit I may have let my emotions get the better of me. I'm not perfect. But the next time I see him, I'm going to kill him. Plain and simple. There. Now beat it. I've got things to do that don't involve entertaining you."

Otis's Home

He was so embarrassed at the moment that the second she heard someone knock on his door he was relieved. It wasn't that he didn't like Julie. She was a great friend and he did appreciate her company. But the unfortunate thing about growing up without a mother and father was that he had no understanding of what he was supposed to do when he had a crush on a girl. Let alone a girl who was also an alien space cop. He opened the door with his face still a bit purple. "Hello?" He asked and saw the young man with a flower pot. "Wow. That is hands down the angriest flower I've ever seen." There was something familiar about that flower that he couldn't quite place his finger on. "Can I help you?"

[Charmera]

A Disease of the Heart

Yamira's Avatar opened a portal to her sister, stepping out of it and looking around at her surroundings. She frowned, lightly disapointed. She had fully expected her sister to be out making cosmic bodies now that she was free of the bonds of sleep. Instead, she was watching anime. The room stank slightly, so Yamira theorized that her sister was eating something. Yamira sighed, walking towards Hadri. I thought older siblings were supposed ot be the more responsible ones.

"Sister. We may have a problem." Spoke the world dragon. "Or at least... I have a problem. I'm not yet sure if this concerns all of us..." She spoke. Then paused, why was it so hard to ask? It was shameful to have to admit it, but she wasn't sure if she could deal with this on her own. Her sister Hadri was the closest person to her, so she thought it best to talk to her.

"I need your help Hadri..." She finally admitted. It hurt to say. She was supposed to be the smartest of the second generation, perhaps the smartest of all of them, but this was a problem on which she was stumped. "I really don't know what to do."

[The Fallen Jedi]

- Snip -

God of Nature Kazuko | God of Peace Shimura

Shimura stared at Xander with blank eyes, he was still unable to comprehend why Xander would decide to kill billions of lives still, Alastir was no longer affiliated with the Masaki Galaxy, his operations were now based within the Demon Realm and Hell itself! Shimura's fist tightened as he closed his eyes "Yet you decide to destroy the entire Galaxy because of the actions of a single person?" Shimura scoffed as he simply stood in the doorway "You are just as bad as General Eiling, he tried to demonstrate a show of force, and look at what happened? He's now dead because of his actions, and now you have given me the choice of judging if your planet is truly peacekeepers, or if they are simply defenders who will destroy everything that stands against them. Oh and just to let you know, we were the ones to help you fight off Alastir, and this is how you repay us?" Shimura practically snarled, his tranquil Emerald Aura surrounding him "Alastir never represented the intentions of our Galaxy and yet you decide to kill Trillions of lives for no reason! If I had the power, I would make sure that the Earth would be suppresse-"

Kazuko's hand landed on Shimura's shoulder, causing the Old Master to calm himself down "It isn't important to continue the conversation any further, Master..." Kazuko began to walk up and approach Xander "All that matters is that you've answered our question, I do have one more thing to ask of you right now, but that can wait..." Kazuko closed his eyes, connecting himself with the natural energy of the Universe, he could sense that something was going on, but it wasn't centered in their specific universe at all, it was somewhere else, but he couldn't recognize what was happening "Something is happening out there..." Kazuko replied, he could also sense a unknown disturbance resonating within the forces of nature, as they too were connected with the Universe, all life was connected to the Universe "We also want to know what is happening, so If you will allow us to join you, we would appreciate it."

[The Republic of Atria]

"Let me put it this way. If I really wanted you all dead, you wouldn't be standing here right now. You wanna know the difference between me and Eiling? I had the power to undo what I did. I could have just as easily brought them all back to life and they would have been none the wiser. So yes. There is a difference. Eiling had no way to undo his actions. I did. And had every intention to. But instead of trusting that I knew what I was doing, your gods and their collective brain cell jumped the gun." He said. "And you really don't want to threaten me in my own home Shimura. If your gods with an army couldn't stop me, I doubt you alone could when I'm surrounded by people who would-" He hissed and grabbed his head. His mood was even more aggressive than usual due to the telepathic connection he had with his Motherbox. It was pinging constantly, and was grating the inside of his head. Like someone scraping their nails on a chalkboard in the very center of his brain.

It really wasn't helping his his already poor mood. "You know what? Fine. There is clearly something going on and I'm not in the mood to argue. We're going to have to go to New Genesis. I really hate that place and you'll see why when we get there, but it's the only place where I can get this stupid thing fixed. Hopefully bringing Otis along will help convince them." He muttered. "If I seem a little more agitated than normal, it's because this piece of junk is a telepathic machine. You ever hear fingernails on a chalkboard? Imagine that inside your head. Constantly." He explained sending a quick message to Otis to get him over. About a minute later, he showed up.

"Did I miss the kiss and makeup session? You look pretty angry for this being a makeup session. Anyways, you want to go to New Genesis? Whats that?" He asked his Motherbox. Which gave him the information he needed. "Oh... Darkseid has a brother too? Who's not a genocidal maniac? I almost don't believe it." It also told him that there was something going on, but couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was that was causing. "Boxy says that there is something going on. Time to meet my half brother-"

"OPEN THE FUCKING BOOM TUBE!"

"Fine! But it's because I want to." He said and the Motherbox opened the portal to the outskirts of the Multiverse and home to the New Gods: [url=http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/8/8f/New_Genesis_004.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100414152350]New Genesis./url]

[Charmera]

Ephilia - Fallen Goddess Of Rebirth

Golden Iris' stared out into the vast void of deep space. This galaxy had met its end, and it was time to move on to the next. A fresh batch of civilizations ripe for death and destruction awaited, and very soon the darkness would cover their worlds. Sky's would be blocked out from Ephilia's hordes, and entire suns would find themselves drained of all energy. Then when the time came, that Galaxy would return to the void. All traces of its existence erased in a single fell blitz. Heroes would always line up to oppose Ephilia, and as usual, heroes would fall before her like a row of dominoes. The false gods and lesser celestials would find greater purpose serving Ephilia, now a 'Greater Ilumni' as she called herself. More importantly, she considered herself the one true Goddess of this Universe. Given time, she would erase everything and start anew with her as the grand creator.

Now, with the threat of total Annihilation looming, a great army stood to oppose the goddess. Remaining Ilumni and the false Celestials of lesser species had gathered in a single, and desperate, final stand against the growing power of this 'ultimate evil' as many termed it before their demise.

It was like a dark cloud in the vast void of space. The cries of the damned could be heard from this mass of tendrils and abominations, and upon closer inspection, one could make out the constituents of the Black Horde. Fell beasts, and creatures deformed beyond repair made up some of the largest of the 'monsters'. Some beasts could be described as 'space kraken's' to a lower species. High above, commanding the hordes were various types of succubi and Incubi. At the center of the horde was armor clad individuals, the finest warriors of numerous races were as vulnerable to temptation as any mortal.

"How...exciting," Ephilia blushed and put a hand to her cheek in anticipation. All her lovely slaughters were terribly one-sided. It'd be deliciously wonderful to actually watch these folks, who believed they actually had a chance to stop her, fight with vigor and eventually lose all hope in the end. It was that look of defeat that Ephilia sought to invoke, but furthermore, she wanted to see their fear. Their screams and their moans as they succumbed to corruption. Extending a single hand, she signaled her vast forces to move forward and begin the battle.

"She's coming this way."

"Tell me something I don't know Sora." Akura spoke, looking towards the horde. She turned back towards her army. Angels, Spirits and Superhumans. She had pheonixes, dragons and gods on her side. She had mages who wielded awesome powers. But Ephilia had an entire horde. On average, Akura's troops were better, but there was so many of Ephilia's monsters... Not to mention Ephilia herself.

"There's no way we're going to defeat her. She has us outnumbered. Our troops may be able to take on quite a few of her scum, but there's way too many of them."

"Arrogance will be her downfall Keena." Akura spoke. "She's neglected to employ any strategy, and her horde can only fight us on the front because of the magnetic fields in this system. She knows nothing of the forces we have and we know everything about hers. Her only hope is to crush us with brute force or outlast us, while we have more... interesting strategems in place."

"She's thinks might alone is enough to win a battle. And that will cost her, severly." Spoke Akura, before lifting her sword. She was annoyed as she looked at Ephilia with that stupid amused smile. She didn't like being disrespected or underestimated by her foe. It was always a gross miscalculation that she tried made them pay for. But she had to at least respect Ephilia's ambition and her power. One had to understand a foe to be able to defeat them, and in the course of doing so one gained respect for them.

"Hear that! She think's we're ants that can be crushed with a mere boot! She thinks we can be silenced with casual force! She does not even have the courage to fight her own battles!" She spoke to rile the troops. They roared in agreement. "But she is wrong. Dead wrong! We may die here today, but for every one that they kill, kill a hundred more. We may die here today, but we will make her regret her crusade. We may die here today, but not before we sever every head of every fell beast and not before we make them scream our names!"

"We may die today, but we will make the universe remember us forevermore! Don't stop killing until every bastard here is dead!" This was met with a roar of enthusiasm. Then Akura did the unexpected, and led the army into a charge. Like a spear, it narrowed, pointing strait at Ephilia. By Akura's side were the remains of the Ilumni. Sora the Shadow Goddess, Keena the Goddess of the hunt, Iretha the Goddess of Strength, Kora the Goddess of Light, Faria the Goddess of Flame, Uria the Goddess of Justice and Thora, Goddess of Blood.

The initial charge was quite devastating. Piercing through the army like a bolt as angels, giants and demigods carved a bloody swathe through their foe. however their momentum suddenly slowed as they found themselves bogged down with fell beasts and space Krakens. Akura. The goddesses were killing things with ease, but their army was being stuck. Their numbers then began dwindling. Corrupted Illumni joined the fray. Keena went down from Yuthka the Defillers mighty lance.

"Akura! We're getting Slaughtered."

"Part of the plan."

"Bullshit! What part of the plan said that we get stuck."

"You obviously didn't read the briefing." Akura quipped back. Then caught sight of her target. She let her rage empower her, giving her new killing strength. "We just need to wait."

More and more died. A horrible ammount for this early in the battle, though considering what they were up against it was optemistic to assume they would get this far. Many had already died, more on Ephilia's side than Akura's, but it was worse for Akura.

Uria went down. No one was sure what killed her in the end, the amount of corrupted wounds she had taken or the blow to her head.

"Akura!"

"Shut up Kora. They're almost here."

"Who?"

"Phase 2 Reinforcements."

Suddenly from out of nowhere, the numbers on Akura's side doubled. People had teleported in, such a mass teleport taking considerable skill to pull off considering the army now around the spear of Akura's forces. Most notable of the reinforcements were Akura's Red Angels. They were an elite that made most elites look like little girls. Their wings mired in the thousands slain needed to join their ranks.

Then Akura's Forces which had been spread thin so shortly ago suddenly compressed. Then another charge was launched, right towards Ephilia. Sora and Kora died together, their hands entwinded as the lovers shared their last moments in life together. Akura noted their death with some pasing sadness. It evaporated when the urge to kill returned.

They kept moving, this charge not loosing it's momentum. In fact it seemed to be accelerating right towards the heart of the army. Iretha was killed and Faria found her flames extinguished and she dropped. Only Thora and Akura were left.

Akura turned to Thora. "One more for old times sake?"

Thora nodded, and they made one last push, which led them strait to Ephilia. Now they were right in front of the Corrupted Goddess herself. Akura's army were busy fighting the heart of Ephilia's forces, and Akura didn't know if they were doing well or not. She was taken aback by Ephilia. Inhaling and exhaling, she looked up and gave a small smirk.

"Ephilia, I presume?"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

On the living area of the six upper floors of the Justice Queens tower, and, specifically, on the living room, there was a figure passed out next to a sofa. Long black locks of hair were sprawled across the ground as she lay there, eyes closed as she mumbled unintelligible sentences about something or other that was happening in her dream. She seemed quite pleased about it, too, as evidenced by the smile that she had on her face, though it suddenly morphed into a concerned expression, and then a frown. Then, as if something had shaken her, she woke up suddenly, opening her eyes. She was obviously very sleepy, and it took her several minutes to even react to the fact that she was now awake, but eventually, she took note of her surroundings, noticing that she was clutching a controller close to her, curled up around it. Pushing it aside, she sat up and leaned back against the sofa.

"Why did it have to be a pervert agaahhhh..." She yawned loudly and then rubbed her eyes in an attempt to dispell the grogginess that was ailing her after waking up. "To be fair, I'm not a saint myself. But why the hell do they pop up in my head?" The girl wondered wordlessly as she set her attention on something at the corner of her eyesight, something that nobody else could see and that followed her eyes everywhere unless she turned it off. It was her personal HUD, and she was looking at a small space at the very corner which indicated that it was still morning. She was rather surprised at this, and surmissed that she must've fallen asleep quite early in the night, which she decided was not all that strange. After all, it was only the previous day that she had finished moving stuff from her apartment to her new home at the Justice Queens tower. The first couple days had been a little awkward for her, but now that she had her stuff (what the Justice Queens didn't have, anyway, which ammounted to her consoles, her PC and her clothes), she felt right at home, and had embarked on a playthrough of one of her favorite games.

Remembering what she had been doing before falling asleep, Jamie finally paid attention to what was right in front of her, seeing the soft glow of the TV in the dark and noticing that it was still on. She could see the Game Over screen and frowned, though she was not too surprised about it. After all, she had slept with the controller right next to her, so it was not really unexpected that she might've pressed the wrong button at some point during the night, had gotten destroyed, and had wound up there. If anything, she was more surprised that she hadn't restarted the game or something like that.

"Aw geez, I was right about to fight the big bad, too." She complained. It was true, she recalled that she had just knocked the evildoer out of his steed and was readying herself for an epic one-on-one swordfight against him, but had instead pressed pause and promptly passed out due to her tiredness. However, as she thought of this, something else popped up into her head, and she repeated the words 'big bad' into her head over and over again, feeling that they held some significance regarding a problem she had encountered recently. Eventually, she understood everything, and hit her palm with her fist.

"I'll be the Big Bad!" She proclaimed triumphantly, glad to have finally found an appropiate superhero alias. But after a moment, she shook her head. "No, wait, that's downright evil. I'm supposed to be one of the good guys. Hm..." She mused for a few seconds. "Oh. Final Boss will do nicely too."

With that, the black-haired girl finally stood up, glancing around. The others seemed to be asleep still, and that was a first for her, but she simply gave a mental shrug and decided that she'd simply continue playing until the others woke up and pestered her or asked to use the TV or something, as soon as she had breakfast of course. As if it were the product of magic or of shitty writing, she noticed that there was a plate on the sofa with an untouched ham and grilled cheese sandwich on it, which she remembered having prepared early the previous night, expecting herself to last far longer than she had. Shrugging, she picked up the plate and then plopped down on the sofa, eating the sandwich as she mused about life, the universe, and everything else. She realized, judging by the decorations some of the other members of the Justice Queens had put up (most likely when she was too busy looking at the television screen), that Christmas was here, and frowned slightly. She hadn't really celebrated it the past two years, having been living alone and with no intention of visiting her parents. She had, of course, treated herself to some neat stuff on Black Friday, but she hadn't really hosted a Christmas get-together nor had been invited to one. Not that she minded, since she had no problem with isolation, but now that she was living with other people, it would probably be seen as rude if she didn't get them something for Christmas.

"Do I buy them stuff or something? It's probably late by now, though." She mused out loud, mouth half-full with bread and ham and grilled cheese. "Nah, I'll just buy a lot of chocolate and get them legendary items and stuff like that. They can't complain about those." She decided.

But that thought once again took her on a tangent, and as she set her plate aside, having finished her sandwich, she furrowed her brow, deep in thought. "What is it... Oh, of course. I can't be a superhero if everyone knows who I am by just glancing at me. 'Mommy, look, it's Final Boss!' 'Final Boss! Would you sign this please?' That would suck. But I can't use one of those spandex outside-underwear suits either, it'll just make me appear stupid and it looks uncomfortable as hell, too. What do I do?" She wondered. While it was true that she would hate to be pestered by fans on her way to the videogame store or something (her expectations of the fame she would attain in short notice were clearly overblown), she wasn't really willing to make the necessary sacrifice. She thought about just not going into public and instead doing support for the Justice Queens or something, but then the perfect solution popped into her mind, and she grinned.

The dull gray ring on her right ring finger, the Psychosynchrotron, began to glow, and Jamie reached into her jacket, accessing her 'inventory'. Though there was nothing occupying the physical space that was the inner pocket of her jacket, the girl did manage to pull out a pair of shades from it, which were quite stylish and also magical. "+5 Shades of Identity Concealing, here we go." She said, putting them on and then picking up her controller, leaning back on the sofa. "Oh yes." She smiled as she started playing again, unaware of the fact that if one of the other members of the Justice Queens walked in on her at the moment they wouldn't be able to recognize her.

---

---

Necromancer smiled as he saw the door being finally opened, noticing that it was just the person he wanted to see, the Inhuman New God. He was glad that Otis hadn't been tending to his duties as a Royal Guard, as otherwise breaking into Queen Medusa's palace likely wouldn't have been so simple, though on the other hand he would've had the chance to kill two birds with one stone, figuratively speaking of course. Regardless, he was here now, which was just fine. The boy giggled as he noticed Otis looking at Darksey the Daisy and commenting on how angry it looked. The flower, too, had reacted to his presence and had begun moving around violently, as if trying to reach Otis as it glared at him, though clearly it was unable to move beyond what its relatively short stem would allow it, as it was confined to the flowerpot that sat atop Necromancer's handcart. Still, it was clearly upset by Otis' presence, which only made the whole scene all the more entertaining for the white-haired boy who was the owner of the soul that was the mad daisy.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that were right, sir. I call him Darksey the Daisy, perhaps you might know him. You killed him, after all." The child spoke, glancing at Darksey. If looks could kill, the glare that the flower was giving Necromancer still wouldn't cause him any harm whatsoever because he couldn't die to begin with, but the analogy was still appropiate to convey the intensity of Darksey's stare. Still, Necromancer paid it no mind and continued speaking to Otis instead. "And no, I doubt you can help me, I've had the same problem for thousands of years and I haven't found a solution yet. But that's not why I'm here. I just wanted to bring you a little gift. If you're going to ask why, I'm not the person you should ask, though." The boy stated. Just then, Otis would feel a hand on his shoulder, and if he turned around, he would see his mother, returned from the dead.

"Merry Christmas, Otis Steredenn."

---

---

Hadrimmelis, indeed, was watching anime instead of functioning as an architect of stars. It was not as if she had merely been goofing off, after all. She did spend some time hanging out at Otis' place, and she was currently watching Blood Blockade Battlefront inside the Temple of Kazandor in Shamra, a temple built by people who had lived far before the Shattar had been born, dedicated to the image that the Shamrans had of her brother Kazayannú, a temple which, she had found out long ago, was pretty much abandoned and thus an excellent place to claim as her own. However, all of that didn't mean that she hadn't been productive. She had helped protect Earth from the Father of Evil and had in fact made him bleed and rent an eye from him, and she had also built a couple galaxy clusters before heading back to her hideout to continue watching her series.

But she was not quite sure why she thought of all of this. Perhaps she surmissed that Yamirakkelis was judging her, but she hadn't said anything about it.

"What problem is it, Yami?" The Black Dragon asked of her sister, concerned about whatever it was that had worried her. Yamirakkelis was intelligent, even for a World-Dragon, which functionally meant that she was the kind of genius mortals could only dream to be. Even if her power was not quite as great as that of a First Generation World-Dragon, her intellect more than made up for it. Thus, if there was a problem that she couldn't solve, then it was either truly beyond her capabilities, or it was a very delicate matter which had caused the sorcerous Dragon to seek her out for advice. Neither alternative was very appealing, but she decided that more conjectures were useless, she would wait to hear it from Yamirakkelis herself.

"You are quite intelligent, something we are quite proud of, so it is strange that you cannot solve this issue. But speak to me, and I will do everything possible to help you." Hadrimmelis stated solemnly, speaking both as a proud World-Dragon and as an elder sister, before grabbing a handful of chips from her bowl and eating them, casually passing the bowl along to Yami afterwards in case she wanted some. She hadn't eaten anything but chips in weeks, but it didn't matter, a World-Dragon's digestive system had no real function and couldn't be described as anything more than a bottomless pit, so she could eat as much as she wanted without having to worry about silly things like disease or her figure (which she could shapeshift to perfection anyways, as she already had). She knew she'd eventually be so sick of them that she wouldn't touch another chip for decades, but a decade was hardly a weekend for her and until that happened she intended to enjoy herself.

But that wasn't on her mind, of course. She had to help her sister.

[Charmera]

---

Hadrimmelis, indeed, was watching anime instead of functioning as an architect of stars. It was not as if she had merely been goofing off, after all. She did spend some time hanging out at Otis' place, and she was currently watching Blood Blockade Battlefront inside the Temple of Kazandor in Shamra, a temple built by people who had lived far before the Shattar had been born, dedicated to the image that the Shamrans had of her brother Kazayannú, a temple which, she had found out long ago, was pretty much abandoned and thus an excellent place to claim as her own. However, all of that didn't mean that she hadn't been productive. She had helped protect Earth from the Father of Evil and had in fact made him bleed and rent an eye from him, and she had also built a couple galaxy clusters before heading back to her hideout to continue watching her series.

But she was not quite sure why she thought of all of this. Perhaps she surmissed that Yamirakkelis was judging her, but she hadn't said anything about it.

"What problem is it, Yami?" The Black Dragon asked of her sister, concerned about whatever it was that had worried her. Yamirakkelis was intelligent, even for a World-Dragon, which functionally meant that she was the kind of genius mortals could only dream to be. Even if her power was not quite as great as that of a First Generation World-Dragon, her intellect more than made up for it. Thus, if there was a problem that she couldn't solve, then it was either truly beyond her capabilities, or it was a very delicate matter which had caused the sorcerous Dragon to seek her out for advice. Neither alternative was very appealing, but she decided that more conjectures were useless, she would wait to hear it from Yamirakkelis herself.

"You are quite intelligent, something we are quite proud of, so it is strange that you cannot solve this issue. But speak to me, and I will do everything possible to help you." Hadrimmelis stated solemnly, speaking both as a proud World-Dragon and as an elder sister, before grabbing a handful of chips from her bowl and eating them, casually passing the bowl along to Yami afterwards in case she wanted some. She hadn't eaten anything but chips in weeks, but it didn't matter, a World-Dragon's digestive system had no real function and couldn't be described as anything more than a bottomless pit, so she could eat as much as she wanted without having to worry about silly things like disease or her figure (which she could shapeshift to perfection anyways, as she already had). She knew she'd eventually be so sick of them that she wouldn't touch another chip for decades, but a decade was hardly a weekend for her and until that happened she intended to enjoy herself.

But that wasn't on her mind, of course. She had to help her sister.

Yami paused. "Thank you." She replied to the compliment, pausing once more. Perhaps she shouldn't have judged her sister so harshly for sitting on her dragon ass. Maybe she was just jealous, as she often was of her big sister. It was one of the few emotions which could cloud her judgement. Ironic, considering she was a ruler of an entire world.

She was proud too, which was why asking for help was hard. But she needed new eyes and perhaps her sisters experience in this issue.

"Three hours ago, an object landed on my shell. Near the southern continent." She spoke. She telepathically transmited an image of the monolith. "I allowed it to stay out of curiousity. The thing was odd, it had no soul which I could read and it's thoughts were... indiscernible, reading it provided nothing but numbers. I was intrigued with it, the thing was like nothing I had ever seen before. Had I known what would come out..."

"An hour later several humanoids came out and made their way to the Jhasai monetary. Attempts to contact them psychically didn't work either. Their minds were similarly obtuse... like reading the mind of a computer. Attempts to influence them similarly didn't work."

"They managed to get to the monastery. Which then suddenly went dark Psychically. I knew there were souls there, but I couldn't read their minds. By the time I got there it was too late."

She paused. "You see, the androids were missionaries. They managed to convince a few Yamirans to undergo a "Conversion" which transformed them into cybernetic beings. They have some sort of way of making humanoids more pliant. These converts then converted more, until the entire monastery was worshiping some strange machine god. I used spatial magic to teleport the androids off world and then their Monolith."

"The problem is, I was unable to rid the Yamirans of this... conversion. Now they're little more than mindless beings following the orders of some other beings" She sighed. "So my problem is twofold. One, I need to find a way to heal the converted and two If I can't... I need some sort of alternative. I also need some way to contain this before it goes any further. I'm unable to control or sense anyone with this odd virus, so they could have infiltrated other monasteries by now."

She took off her glasses, rubbing her temple. "This has become a complete mess... I should have tossed them off world the second they got here. They might even come back... I hadn't even considered that." She was obviously stressed. Very stressed.

[Confederation of imperial states]

""I'm guessing you ditched Johnson.". The Knight stayed quiet to the statement, following Runner 5 the short distance he walked before turning to The Knight.

"Yo, Knight, you ever interacted with Red Robin before? Don't have any vendettas against him or anything like that?". "No, I've heard of Red Robin before, a Young man of his Stature wouldn't attract any vendettas against me". The Knight looked around, The normal GCPD building was more upgraded per say with the Technology, probably from Boxer's Organization. The Knight saw the grimaces and looks he'd gotten from the SWAT officers, aswell as some of the other officers, The Knight peered back at Runner 5.

"do they dislike every Masked vigilant who comes through here, or am I a special case?

"SWAT's never been a fan of the vigilantism in Gotham, and a lot of the old timers aren't a fan of the Runners. Us bringing a Mask through the GCPD HQ straight to Boxer? I'd be surprised if you didn't get ugly looks." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We're here."

The War Room entrance was a reinforced steel door. Runner-5 placed his hand on a scanner and then typed in a code, opening the door. Inside, Boxer and Red Robin, along with a few Runners, were talking. Boxer glanced at the door. "You must be Knight. Michael, grab the folder to your left and brief yourself on your assignment, then head out."

Runner-5 nodded. "Alright boss." He grabbed the folder and left the room as Boxer approached Knight.

"I'm Boxer. Runner-Actual on comms." He nodded towards the masked man behind him. "Red Robin. Redbird-Actual. on comms. The rest of these guys are my best Runners. Red Robin and these guys are my assault squad. Everyone else is on recon. You can join either team, and I have a file briefing available either way." He held up two files, one labelled 'Assault' and the other labelled 'Active,' waiting for Knight to choose one.

""I'm Boxer. Runner-Actual on comms."", "Nice to meet you, Your team is Impressive, from my perspective in any case".

"Red Robin. Redbird-Actual. on comms. The rest of these guys are my best Runners. Red Robin and these guys are my assault squad. Everyone else is on recon. You can join either team, and I have a file briefing available either way."", The Knight shook his head, "I've explained this to 'runner johnson', I'm here to help the Bat Family in Gotham since they asked for my help, I'm not however interested in Joining an Organization. If it's any Consolation Boxer, I'll be willing to work a bit of a temporary partnership with your men until The Bat Family doesn't need my assistance anymore". The Knight waited for Boxer's response.

[Imperial--japan]

Ephilia - Fallen Goddess Of Rebirth

Since the beginning of the conflict, Ephilia had watched on with amusement as the Celestial's launched strategy after strategy against the horde. Clever perhaps, but strategy meant nothing against insurmountable odds and nigh infinite numbers. The weight of hundreds of fallen Galaxy's slammed against the Celestial's defenses, and with time, cracks would emerge that they would readily exploit. For the duration of this battle, Ephilia had delegated command of the hordes to the Greater Succubi and Incubi. In the background, Ephilia would look for the commanders of the Celestial forces and deal with them herself. She wouldn't be waiting long it seemed.

The last thing Ephilia expected was a counter charge against the horde. The zeal of the enemy was enough to almost shatter the morale of the advance legions, but it mattered not. For every fallen demon or 'fallen', seven more were ready to take their place. The Celestial's seemed to realize this as well, and while they put up a ferocious fight, they slowly began to falter against superior numbers. When cracks formed in the enemy formation, the horde would swiftly move to fill it and isolate parts of the Celestial's forces. From there, they would descend upon the enemy and crush them. It was a slow strategy, but in a battle of attrition, the horde was superior.

Despite overwhelming losses, Ephilia looked on with excitement at the carnage before her. Her fellow remaining Ilumni had aligned themselves with the defenders instead of joining her like so many had already done. While disappointing, they would prove a valuable addition to the casualty count. With luck, perhaps Ephilia would be able to add some to her collection.

Then the angelic reinforcements arrived, and Ephilia found that it was time to intervene a bit. With a bit of magic, she effortlessly opened numerous portals above the battle, and to the ire of the defenders, even more waves of of 'fallen' poured out. Dark Angels and Ilumni riding fell beasts sprang forth from their residence within Ephlilia's personal plane.

"Go forth, and deal with this interlopers who seek to disrupt my attempts at rebirth for this Universe!" She rallied her forces with such simple words, and horde found itself invigorated mainly from the magick's of their goddess. As the battle began to swing into its final phase with the reinforcements between each side clashing in a brutal engagement, Ephilia turned her gaze to the Ilumni who had managed to charge through her forces. Figures that it would take her own race to be able to confront her. The horde ignored the two Ilumni, instead focusing on decimating the remaining Celestial's that were putting up a 'glorious last stand'.

"Ephilia, I presume?"

The fallen Goddess smiled at her fellow Ilumni that stood ready to strike her down.

"My my my, how observant. Yes, that would be I. Now, since this battle is coming to a close, I recommend you yield, and perhaps you'll find yourselves content with your brethren in my new Universe." Ephilia extended her hand in welcome.

"I hope you'll accept my invitation. I'm sure you'll make wonderful additions to my new reality. Otherwise...it'd be unfortunate if I had to..." she narrowed her eyes and licked her lips in anticipation. "Get violent."

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

-snip-

One of the five happened to be a Runner. "God dammit." He sighed, lowering his gun. "Don't bother firing. Shooting at a Kryptonian is liable to get you killed and maybe tickle them a bit." He approached Len-El as the others lowered their guns reluctantly. "I'm guessing you're here because of Joker's attack?"

---

-snip-

The Reclaimer watched for a moment more as the cursed being before him knocked on the door before vanishing, re-appearing on the other side of the Universe before a creature who had synthesized an artificial Lazarus Pit. He did his duty in destroying both it and him, yet, he was distracted.

How does it feel? To know that your Mistress Death isn't as powerful as you thought? Twice now, you've seen creatures that escaped Her. The Cancerverse, and now this boy that can even rip souls from her grasp.
Silence.
How long before one she sends you after is more powerful than she anticipated?
You will cease-
How long before you die, and she does not care?
I said-!
How long before I am free?
SHUT UP!

He suddenly hesitated in the physical world, his sickle pausing half an inch away from his target's neck. "Oh Goddess, thank you, thank you!" He whimpered. The smoke that perpetually travelled from Reclaimer's wrists in his God form began to slowly disperse, and the cracks on his face began to close. His eyes slowly began to return to their human colour.

Suddenly, his expression grew grim, and all his features returned. He slammed the sickle down, cleanly slicing off the resurrected man's head. "Perhaps you may one day escape me, Henry Retlyer. But today is not that day."

[Mavorpen]

snip

"Well, excuse me for enjoying your tea." Jamal shrugged as he approached the teaset sitting on the cloth in front of her. He sat down, picked up the teapot, and poured himself some tea into his own cup. "To be honest though, I'm here partly because I'd like to relax myself. I can't even go to sleep without feeling like I'm being watched because, well, I am. Seriously, they act like I'm a rare animal. I had to go deep in the forest just to take a nap. Suppose I'm just selfish."

He took a sip from the cup as she asked him about his progress, and he reached into his pocket and took out his cellphone. "Yeah, I finally got the chance to upgrade my pho--" He stopped. "Oh, that's right, you meant the ship. Yeah, I just built it not too long ago. I'll need to add some cup holders eventually." He reached down and took one of the kebabs off of his plate and began eating. "Want one?" He asked, holding up the plate.

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

"SWAT's never been a fan of the vigilantism in Gotham, and a lot of the old timers aren't a fan of the Runners. Us bringing a Mask through the GCPD HQ straight to Boxer? I'd be surprised if you didn't get ugly looks." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We're here."

The War Room entrance was a reinforced steel door. Runner-5 placed his hand on a scanner and then typed in a code, opening the door. Inside, Boxer and Red Robin, along with a few Runners, were talking. Boxer glanced at the door. "You must be Knight. Michael, grab the folder to your left and brief yourself on your assignment, then head out."

Runner-5 nodded. "Alright boss." He grabbed the folder and left the room as Boxer approached Knight.

"I'm Boxer. Runner-Actual on comms." He nodded towards the masked man behind him. "Red Robin. Redbird-Actual. on comms. The rest of these guys are my best Runners. Red Robin and these guys are my assault squad. Everyone else is on recon. You can join either team, and I have a file briefing available either way." He held up two files, one labelled 'Assault' and the other labelled 'Active,' waiting for Knight to choose one.

""I'm Boxer. Runner-Actual on comms."", "Nice to meet you, Your team is Impressive, from my perspective in any case".

"Red Robin. Redbird-Actual. on comms. The rest of these guys are my best Runners. Red Robin and these guys are my assault squad. Everyone else is on recon. You can join either team, and I have a file briefing available either way."", The Knight shook his head, "I've explained this to 'runner johnson', I'm here to help the Bat Family in Gotham since they asked for my help, I'm not however interested in Joining an Organization. If it's any Consolation Boxer, I'll be willing to work a bit of a temporary partnership with your men until The Bat Family doesn't need my assistance anymore". The Knight waited for Boxer's response.

Boxer raised an eyebrow. "And like Runner-5 explained, helping us is helping the Bat. You wouldn't be joining the GCPD in any capacity- Do you know how much flak we'd get from the higher ups if we even considered hiring a Mask? Hell no." He shook his head. "Besides, did you think Red Robin was part of the GCPD? He's with Batman, not us. These teams are temporary alliances of Mask and my Runners that will be dissolved the moment their mission is complete. That was always the plan. Now, are you going to help us out or argue semantics all day?"

[Confederation of imperial states]

""I'm Boxer. Runner-Actual on comms."", "Nice to meet you, Your team is Impressive, from my perspective in any case".

"Red Robin. Redbird-Actual. on comms. The rest of these guys are my best Runners. Red Robin and these guys are my assault squad. Everyone else is on recon. You can join either team, and I have a file briefing available either way."", The Knight shook his head, "I've explained this to 'runner johnson', I'm here to help the Bat Family in Gotham since they asked for my help, I'm not however interested in Joining an Organization. If it's any Consolation Boxer, I'll be willing to work a bit of a temporary partnership with your men until The Bat Family doesn't need my assistance anymore". The Knight waited for Boxer's response.

Boxer raised an eyebrow. "And like Runner-5 explained, helping us is helping the Bat. You wouldn't be joining the GCPD in any capacity- Do you know how much flak we'd get from the higher ups if we even considered hiring a Mask? Hell no." He shook his head. "Besides, did you think Red Robin was part of the GCPD? He's with Batman, not us. These teams are temporary alliances of Mask and my Runners that will be dissolved the moment their mission is complete. That was always the plan. Now, are you going to help us out or argue semantics all day?"

"I don't see where you're getting at with Arguing, I'd misheard and thought You'd want me to join, I Wasn't arguing with you. In anycase I'll join this alliance to help The Bat".

The Knight gestured his head towards the Assault File, "I'll take Assault". if Boxer gave The Knight the file, The Knight would take hold and inspect it, "I have to note, Boxer, you and Runner-5 set a better face for your Organization then the Runner you sent did".

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

Kirisvala was quite content with herself as she noticed that her spellsong had indeed accomplished the task of opening the locks on the file cabinet, a smile on her face, but it quickly faded when she saw how shocked and devastated Nico looked after looking through the files. She had for a moment forgotten that these were their parents they were trying to catch, and realized that Nico had probably held some hope that he was wrong about everything, even after hearing the unscrambled sound file that Mars had taken from the bank robber's phone. She felt really bad for him an for his sister, but she felt that there was not much she could say or do in this situation, so she figured it would be best if she just let them comfort each other instead of getting herself involved.

She was about to tell them that they should grab the files and move on, when she heard someone's voice. As she turned around, she saw a strangely dressed man, but that paled in importance compared to the weapons he held in his hands. Seeing him charging towards them, her eyes widened and she quickly shoved both Nico and Cat behind her before bringing up her claws to defend herself and block the katanas. Fortunately, Hadrian scales were quite resilient and it would take more than a simple sword to cut through them, but the rest of her body was not so durable, so she knew she would have to be very careful. Taking advantage of the momentary lock between her claws and the man's blades, her tail shot up and wrapped around one of them, holding it in place while she used one of her claws to take hold of the other. With her remaining hand, she threw a fist towards the ninja, hoping to deal with him quickly.

---

---

Hadrimmelis nodded at her younger sister, and then listened to her predicament, paying attention to every detail. Right away, she realized that, while everything she thought about her sister's intellect was true, it was also a distinct weakness of hers: the drive to gain more knowledge, her curiosity, could easily come back to bite her if she was not careful, and it appeared that, in this case, that was exactly what had happened. If she had been faced with such a situation, she would've immediately gone to investigate by herself instead of waiting and observing, and would've likely destroyed the thing as soon as it showed the first sign of hostility or of attempting to corrupt her precious Hadrians. She supposed she had grown somewhat ruthless, in that regard; after the Time Demon War and all the consequences it carried, she preferred to get rid of unnecessary risks straight away, but Yamirakkelis had experienced no such thing, which had allowed her curiosity to develop. And that was fine. Hadrimmelis liked that, she wanted to protect her sister's noble drive for knowledge, she wanted her sister to preserve her curiosity.

That was exactly why she had to do something about the matter at hand, but she was not sure what to do, exactly. These mechanical creatures seemed to have minds different than that of most sentient beings. While that, by itself, was certainly not enough to protect them against the psionic might of a World-Dragon such as herself, it did complicate matters: the thoughts had to be read and then interpreted. It was an option, but it was not ideal. Regarding the conversions, however, she knew exactly what had to be done. Much like they would have to do if they were controlling a quarintine, they had to isolate those infected, or in this case, converted, and prevent them from coming into contact with anyone who was not converted. That was simple enough, but turning them back would be a much more difficult matter. If Yamira had not observed how the conversions took place and had teleported the invaders away without a second thought, then they had no leads to follow.

Still, she had to comfort her, and so, the Black Dragon placed a hand on her sister's cheek. "Hey, look at me." She said. "Everything is going to be fine, alright? You will be able to solve this problem, I promise you that much." She said to Yamira, before sitting down on the temple's throne and joining the tips of her fingers, deep in thought. "Now, the first thing you have to do is isolate the converted. Lock them within an ice tower or something similar. If they have become mechanical creatures then I am sure they will have no issue with the lack of sustenance, and if that is not the case you can always use your powers to give them what they need without letting them come into contact with the other Yamirans. Even if you can't sense them, you should still be able to track them down by reaching into their machine minds. If you need my help to isolate them, however, I will be happy to help you with that." Hadrimmelis spoke, standing up and pacing a little around the room.

"That is to avoid having more of your people turn into strange machine-worshipping creatures. However, if you wish to purify those who have already been converted, then we will have to find a way, and the only source of information we can rely on are the machines themselves. You will have to track them down wherever it is that you banished them, and learn more about them if you hope to purify your Yamirans. I would offer to assist you in this endeavor as well, but as you are the most intelligent, it is unlikely that I would be of much assistance to you." The older World-Dragon explained. "If you wish, I can imbue your avatar with additional Dragon Force, so that you will be better equipped to deal with any threats."

---

---

Despite herself, Seriskira could not hold back a small grin when Jamal complimented her tea once again, feeling quite proud of her brewing abilities. After all, if even an alien from the distant planet of Earth could appreciate its taste, then surely she was doing something right. Her grumpy mood was quite short-lived, as she started giggling afterwards, hearing Jamal's comment about being treated like a rarity around Tarashkar. It was perfectly logical for him to be treated so, as he was, in fact, a rare specimen that the Hadrians of Adai did not often come into contact with, but hearing him complain about it was just plain comical to her, almost as much as the fact that he seemed to place a lot of value on his 'phone'. She had heard, from what little communication there was between Adai and Travenios, that humans were like that, but she was only now seeing it for herself.

"Just one?" The Champion of Adai spoke as she heard Jamal's offer, feigning indignation. "Ha! As if. It's not like you're paying for them or anything." She smiled, reaching out and taking a grand total of two kebabs from Jamal's plate, munching on one of them for a bit before speaking again. "And my people treat you like that because you are a rare animal to us, Jamal, be grateful that at least they respect you because they think you and I are close. Not many humans traveled to Hadrimmelis, and not many humans come to Adai, either. You are among the first humans I've met, in fact." She explained. "If you want Hadrians treating you as an equal, head over to Earth. There's a city, I believe it's called Travenios. There are more of us living there, and they're probably more used to you and your people." She shrugged, before finishing one of the kebabs.

"Anyway, so, you've built the ship. I take it you will be leaving soon, then?" The redheaded huntress asked.

[Altito Asmoro]

-snip-

One of the five happened to be a Runner. "God dammit." He sighed, lowering his gun. "Don't bother firing. Shooting at a Kryptonian is liable to get you killed and maybe tickle them a bit." He approached Len-El as the others lowered their guns reluctantly. "I'm guessing you're here because of Joker's attack?"

---

-snip-

The Reclaimer watched for a moment more as the cursed being before him knocked on the door before vanishing, re-appearing on the other side of the Universe before a creature who had synthesized an artificial Lazarus Pit. He did his duty in destroying both it and him, yet, he was distracted.

How does it feel? To know that your Mistress Death isn't as powerful as you thought? Twice now, you've seen creatures that escaped Her. The Cancerverse, and now this boy that can even rip souls from her grasp.
Silence.
How long before one she sends you after is more powerful than she anticipated?
You will cease-
How long before you die, and she does not care?
I said-!
How long before I am free?
SHUT UP!

He suddenly hesitated in the physical world, his sickle pausing half an inch away from his target's neck. "Oh Goddess, thank you, thank you!" He whimpered. The smoke that perpetually travelled from Reclaimer's wrists in his God form began to slowly disperse, and the cracks on his face began to close. His eyes slowly began to return to their human colour.

Suddenly, his expression grew grim, and all his features returned. He slammed the sickle down, cleanly slicing off the resurrected man's head. "Perhaps you may one day escape me, Henry Retlyer. But today is not that day."

"Joker's attack? Uh, sure, sure. I'm here for that attack, and I've heard of what happened while I was in NY. So, yeah, Joker's attack." said Len, to the Runner. Damn, I lied. If he knows I'm lied, well, I'm screwed. Len decided to landed on the rooftop of GCPD, and took steps back to adjusted himself up and down.

"So...how do you coordinate with the GCPD? Last time I checked, you still a separate body, not uniting your power with GCPD. GCD, right? I know what happened when Vannis still alive. It's a chaos in Gotham, but now? I heard it's more peaceful. Barring Joker and Penguin."

[The Silhouette of Adventure]

One of the five happened to be a Runner. "God dammit." He sighed, lowering his gun. "Don't bother firing. Shooting at a Kryptonian is liable to get you killed and maybe tickle them a bit." He approached Len-El as the others lowered their guns reluctantly. "I'm guessing you're here because of Joker's attack?"

---

The Reclaimer watched for a moment more as the cursed being before him knocked on the door before vanishing, re-appearing on the other side of the Universe before a creature who had synthesized an artificial Lazarus Pit. He did his duty in destroying both it and him, yet, he was distracted.

How does it feel? To know that your Mistress Death isn't as powerful as you thought? Twice now, you've seen creatures that escaped Her. The Cancerverse, and now this boy that can even rip souls from her grasp.
Silence.
How long before one she sends you after is more powerful than she anticipated?
You will cease-
How long before you die, and she does not care?
I said-!
How long before I am free?
SHUT UP!

He suddenly hesitated in the physical world, his sickle pausing half an inch away from his target's neck. "Oh Goddess, thank you, thank you!" He whimpered. The smoke that perpetually travelled from Reclaimer's wrists in his God form began to slowly disperse, and the cracks on his face began to close. His eyes slowly began to return to their human colour.

Suddenly, his expression grew grim, and all his features returned. He slammed the sickle down, cleanly slicing off the resurrected man's head. "Perhaps you may one day escape me, Henry Retlyer. But today is not that day."

"Joker's attack? Uh, sure, sure. I'm here for that attack, and I've heard of what happened while I was in NY. So, yeah, Joker's attack." said Len, to the Runner. Damn, I lied. If he knows I'm lied, well, I'm screwed. Len decided to landed on the rooftop of GCPD, and took steps back to adjusted himself up and down.

"So...how do you coordinate with the GCPD? Last time I checked, you still a separate body, not uniting your power with GCPD. GCD, right? I know what happened when Vannis still alive. It's a chaos in Gotham, but now? I heard it's more peaceful. Barring Joker and Penguin."

The Runner narrowed his eyes for a moment then chuckled. "You're not a very good liar, Kryptonian. I'm guessing you need a refresher on recent events? After everything went down a while back, with Vannis and all, the GCD and GCPD coordinated to each take back half of the city. The GCD merged with the GCPD afterwards. The GCPD now has a new branch- The Runners, coordinated by Boxer, the GCD's old second in command. For a while, everything was quiet, with the exception of the Reclaimer going off the grid, until two days ago."

His expression became sombre. "Two days ago, the Joker set off seventeen bombs around Gotham City, flooding the city with his toxin and destroying Gotham General Hospital. He's in Arkham now, and everyone is trying to pick up the pieces. That's what I meant by Joker's attack."

He breathed deeply, calming himself, then sighed. "Any questions, Kryptonian?"

[Altito Asmoro]

"Joker's attack? Uh, sure, sure. I'm here for that attack, and I've heard of what happened while I was in NY. So, yeah, Joker's attack." said Len, to the Runner. Damn, I lied. If he knows I'm lied, well, I'm screwed. Len decided to landed on the rooftop of GCPD, and took steps back to adjusted himself up and down.

"So...how do you coordinate with the GCPD? Last time I checked, you still a separate body, not uniting your power with GCPD. GCD, right? I know what happened when Vannis still alive. It's a chaos in Gotham, but now? I heard it's more peaceful. Barring Joker and Penguin."

The Runner narrowed his eyes for a moment then chuckled. "You're not a very good liar, Kryptonian. I'm guessing you need a refresher on recent events? After everything went down a while back, with Vannis and all, the GCD and GCPD coordinated to each take back half of the city. The GCD merged with the GCPD afterwards. The GCPD now has a new branch- The Runners, coordinated by Boxer, the GCD's old second in command. For a while, everything was quiet, with the exception of the Reclaimer going off the grid, until two days ago."

His expression became sombre. "Two days ago, the Joker set off seventeen bombs around Gotham City, flooding the city with his toxin and destroying Gotham General Hospital. He's in Arkham now, and everyone is trying to pick up the pieces. That's what I meant by Joker's attack."

He breathed deeply, calming himself, then sighed. "Any questions, Kryptonian?"

"You got me, though I don't know how you could did that."

And then he heard the explanation. Apparently, GCD and GCPD merged and became stronger and more in numbers, a lot of good things to go. However, then Joker set off seventeen bombs, around Gotham City. Flooding the city with his toxin and destroying hospital. Damages had been done and he's in Asylum now but it will be damned if it means city's safe.

"It's terrible, but acknowledged. Joker isn't exactly the sanest in crime department. Okay, so...what can I do to help?"