The Cataclysm Part 2: The Man From A Different World.

Ruin, The Vessel of the Talmut Emperor

Powerful blast of cannon fire littered the space around the Ninjan world, after the fall of Magog every other system in the path of the Talmut’s fell one by one, and thanks to Catalina’s knowledge of how to defeat the Ninjans—they never stood a chance.

“I’m actually impressed how fast you guys took the Arlact System” Catalina applauded sliding her hands down to her narrow waist. “I suppose it was to be expected, I mean we did capture their queen” she continued chuckling a bit at the chess reference. “Now there are only two objectives left. Xiox and Earth” She said grasping the emerald skinned Madison by her jaw.

“The Ninjans will fight without their queen; they are warriors to the end. Madison said spitting in Catalina’s direction. Cat’s face remained unchanged; it was almost as if what Madison was saying was expected. “Of course they will, I’d expect nothing less from warriors. Make no mistake your highness; I fully expect them to meet their end.” Cat explained with a sinister smirk.

“You have family on Earth, yes? Maybe even a loved one” The baritone voice of the Talmut Emperor boomed; notifying her of his presence.

“I loved one person, but he was taken from me. The others? I only pretended to like them. I’ve killed all my other siblings save for a few. Those are the ones I want to struggle.” She replied moving toward the Eden transporter.

“I’m getting the feeling that Gaia has failed on Earth, as expected; they’ve been so caught up trying to take her down, they haven’t noticed your fleet moving closer to their system. My brother has made his way to Earth M; I intend to meet him there with the True Champion.”

Madison struggled in her chains upset at the thought of Catalina setting up Leonel…again, but she was powerless to do anything to stop them. “Calm your nerves Madison. When this is over, you’ll join him in death.” “I’ll make sure you are tossed into the Source Wall” Madison hissed, Cat said nothing, instead she gave a small chuckle before activating the teleporter.

A vibrant flash filled the entire room, and within moments Catalina was gone. The hulking frame of the Talmut emperor moved towards Madison menacing in his approach.

“You won’t win.” The emerald queen proclaimed staring the exterminator of her people in his eyes; not daring to blink.

“Such faith, on what grounds do you proclaim such things?” He asked staring the fearless Ninjan Queen in her sunburned eyes. “You have greatly underestimated the strength the Earth wields.”

M.O.S.S.

“The Queen has been captured, if you don’t mobilize the fleet now, the entire Omega System will fall.” Addison screamed, trying to rally the Omega System Alliance. Despite her pleas it seemed as if the other races didn’t see the point in helping the Ninjans; especially when just a few days prior Madison Maynard pretty much cursed them all out.

“Don’t you see this isn’t a Ninjan problem…it’s everyone’s problem!” Her complaints fell on deaf ears, the alliance adjourned and returned to their respective planets. Addison planted her hands on her forehead unsure on what to do now, the Talmut Fleet was plowing through the Ninjan controlled space on its way to burn Xiox. “Ready the Ninjan Fleet, I fear soon the Talmuts will be here” She commanded, trying to rally the Ninjans without their fearless queen.

“I don’t see how Ian does it” Addison was an Exemplar, a cosmic being sworn to guard the fabrics of Reality. Addison’s domain known simply as “M” was thought to have ended thanks largely in part to the 3^rd society. Now, her world was back, primitive and uninhabited—and the source of problems for Leonel no doubt.

“Do I need to remind you of the complications that will occur; if this universe’s Exemplar finds out you’ve been here all this time?” An unknown entity asked reporting from the Ascension Point.

“I know, I know; but what was I supposed to do. My universe had less than 600 intelligent life forms living. That’s dead by our standards. If we don’t stop this fleet…this universe will also be dead. I need to find out why and how Earth-M has appeared here. I’ll be in touch, just keep Dr.Pierce off my ass”

Earth- M

A thick blue portal parted the fabric of reality releasing The Dark One to the forest of Earth- M. “Such a beautiful world” Cat said surprised by the untapped natural state of the planet. As her eyes darted to the sky, she felt a familiar figure approaching the planet at an astounding speed. “Leonel…” she said, watching as his Adonic figure parted the atmosphere at will. He was coming to challenge the “True Champion of Earth-M, a perplexing thought.

Leonel lived on Earth-M as the son of Ziccarra and Alexis, after they died Leonel moved to CVNU Earth, so just who was this “True Champion?”

“This Ought to be fun…” Cat said, elegantly treading through the forest enroute to a solitary palace on the far-side of the forest.

It was rare for Leonel, the Azure Son, to seek anyone's help, let alone his father's, Thee Champion. It wasn't a matter of pride. Leonel simply recognized the sheer magnitude of his power. Whereas Alexis held at his fingertips the power to shatter worlds, detonate stars, and erase entire solar systems, Leonel at his fullest was a walking quasar. He rarely, if ever required assistance from anyone. Though having exhausted much of the energy stored in his personal quantum dimensional state from generating the magnetic fields that fling him into higher dimensional space and thus, enable him to exceeded the universe's light-speed barrier, the Azure Son had little choice. He had already moved Earth-M from Earth's orbital space, he could not do so again.

Not as a depleted New God. He needed to recharge, to replenish, but he still needed to uncover the mystery behind the replica Earth's abrupt reappearance. And so, by relying on the psionic energy absorbed from the numerous telepaths who have faced him, Leonel reached out to his father and did the unexpected, requested his aid. The Herald of Hope was quick to comply. And from the starry depths of outer space, he emerged. Crimson boots and a cape followed accompanied by a semi-armored, form-fitting dark blue attire emblazed with an 'S' on the chest adorned his Greek god frame. Enveloped by a luminous aura of the high-intensity photons he radiated as a means of propulsion, Thee Champion accelerated towards the twin Earth, his features growing earnest as his eyes widened subtly at the sight of it.

"What is this?", he thought, before hoping that Leonel had asked Maya to do as much as she could with her reality warping to ward off the gravitational effects of a double Earth in their planet's orbital space. Quickly, he descended into the replica planet's atmosphere, abandoning the darkness of space as the aura of high-intensity photons were replaced by a cone of red. A trail of sonic booms tore the sky asunder as they chased after him. "This planet is young", he realized. Its atmosphere was richer in oxygen than its twin. It held none of the pollution and atmospheric perversion found in its counterpart. And it was uninhabited. At least not by intelligent life. The Herald of Hope recognized only plant-life. Decelerating as he landed beside his son in the dense, forested region, a curious Champion inquired, "Leo, what's going on?".

"No idea", Leonel answered, "At first I thought this planet was uninhabited by any animal life. All I could detect were plants. But then, I saw that", he paused, gesturing towards the image of a distant palace. "I'm willing to bet whoever's behind this madness is in there", Alexis remarked. "Let's go found out what this is all about". Bursting forward, the two New Gods headed for the enigmatic palace, unaware of Catalina's lurking presence.

Finally, a breather, since the start of this charade Ruby and the STRIKE team were ankle deep in challenges; challenges that should’ve broke them. “I need a status report on the Alcatraz team” Ruby said, exhaling the refreshing menthol from her slightly chapped lips.

“Everyone is on site commander, comms are still dark; but we have confirmation that everyone is moving according to plan.” Agent Norfleet relayed, checking the information relay for Alcatraz. “Jesus…” she said, looking out from the command deck; there was a broken feel amongst her crew and even some of the heroes.

“Ma’am we have the cyborg in custom; I’d like to point out he did not attempt to flee.” Agent Hollins said handing her a detainee report. “Release him for now it appears we have more pressing matters to attend to. Let him know we’re sorry for the inconvenience; and if at all available we’d like to speak with him later.”

There was a lot of uncertainty settling in the air; it was as if; no one knew what to do next. A lot of the agents were still rattled; a lot of the heroes had yet to even recover, Ruby however; she remained completely focused on the next move.

“What’s the status on Solar Hawk?” She asked, staring at her downed agent through the reflective glass with her hands resting across her breast.

“She’s pretty banged up, but her regenerative properties should put her back in the fight soon.” Agent Line said handing Ruby a clipboard with Solar Hawk’s diagnostics on it. “Really? Clipboards we couldn’t afford digipads?” She replied eying the clipboard with disgust.

“Well they’re Animus tech…”

“Of course they are.” Ruby replied sarcastically, she and Animus weren’t the best of friends; especially after she threatened to expose his secret alliance with Zedora and Aphasic of the 3rd Society. “I need an update on Yossele and Dio, Turisas, Feral Nova, and Fraga.”

Confident in their abilities to be fully operational within a few hours Ruby’s attention turned toward the heavenly presence of “Counter-Earth” hanging above them. “Maya’s warping abilities are keeping us from feeling it’s effects, but…we need to do something. Its presence is making worldwide coverage.” Agent Norfleet reported, “Also…you might want to check on Agent Barnes, I think this whole ordeal is getting to him.”

Ruby released a frustrated sigh before heading towards Barnes station. “Agent Barnes, are you alright?” She asked placing a comforting palm on his shoulders. “Yes ma’am I am.” He said solemnly.

“I was just sitting here thinking…if one of us died, you’d have to clone us and bring us back; and make up some stupid back-story of how we spent the entire time in Tahiti”

“Clones, Tahiti? What’re you….The Avengers?” She asked finally putting two and two together. “No, Agents of Shield, but think about it for a moment ma’am we all came very close to dying today” He said sounding sad but sincere.

“If Turisas had slipped up when he threw those pilots at you, you’d be walking around with an eye patch!” Without warning Ruby’s hand whipped back and smacked Barnes behind the head. “Sorry, it’s protocol. I needed to make sure you didn’t accidentally hit your head. You’d know if you read the manual” She lied, using his lack of knowledge to get away with smacking him.

“Director Ruby!” Maya screamed from the far side of the vessel, her lithe frame moved elegantly down the corridor, her frantic state look as if she were bringing bad news—news they didn’t need right now.

“There is an alien…armada heading for our system; if it reaches Earth we’ll be powerless to stop it…” Maya tried to keep her information on a hush, but it was apparent her tone was alarming.

“I don’t know if we can stop…aliens” Ruby said; planting her hand on her forehead. “That’s not even the worst of it, I’m picking up four powerful life forms on counter Earth; I recognize two as My brother and daddy, the other is Catalina…I don’t know who the other is but they’re immensely powerful.”

“Get everyone that can come into the conference room, prepare us a way to get to that alternate Earth.

@embargo@catalina_liafador

M.O.S.S.

“The Queen has been captured, if you don’t mobilize the fleet now, the entire Omega System will fall.” Addison screamed, trying to rally the Omega System Alliance. Despite her pleas it seemed as if the other races didn’t see the point in helping the Ninjans; especially when just a few days prior Madison Maynard pretty much cursed them all out.

“Don’t you see this isn’t a Ninjan problem…it’s everyone’s problem!” Her complaints fell on deaf ears, the alliance adjourned and returned to their respective planets. Addison planted her hands on her forehead unsure on what to do now, the Talmut Fleet was plowing through the Ninjan controlled space on its way to burn Xiox. “Ready the Ninjan Fleet, I fear soon the Talmuts will be here” She commanded, trying to rally the Ninjans without their fearless queen.

“I don’t see how Ian does it” Addison was an Exemplar, a cosmic being sworn to guard the fabrics of Reality. Addison’s domain known simply as “M” was thought to have ended thanks largely in part to the 3rd society. Now, her world was back, primitive and uninhabited—and the source of problems for Leonel no doubt.

“Do I need to remind you of the complications that will occur; if this universe’s Exemplar finds out you’ve been here all this time?” An unknown entity asked reporting from the Ascension Point.

“I know, I know; but what was I supposed to do. My universe had less than 600 intelligent life forms living. That’s dead by our standards. If we don’t stop this fleet…this universe will also be dead. I need to find out why and how Earth-M has appeared here. I’ll be in touch, just keep Dr.Pierce off my ass”

Almost as if on cue, his presence was revealed by the telltale red flash made by the singular eye of his ebony helm. Slowly the armored figure emerged from the darkness and began moving towards Addison at a leisurely pace, the stark features of the dark knight seemingly melting away and revealing the man beneath, Dr. Ian Pierce. While maintaining a very covert identity on Earth was a necessity, such precautions were unneeded in other parts of the cosmos as the Ninjan Empire had faced threats of such nature before and his status was a known quantity. Besides it was only polite to meet a fellow Exemplar face to face, especially when he had caught her red handed, operating within his domain without even the courtesy of a hello.

Ian - "Doctor is so formal Addison, as for your ass, I've dated multiple co-workers before and it did not turn out so well in the end. Consider it safe from me."

Addison could see Ian was observing her with an almost ambivalent look upon his face, nowhere present was the anger one would expect under the circumstances, as if her presence was not a sudden revelation. With his arms held casually behind his back she could see him poke his nose into the various view screens displaying the preparations made so far.

Ian - "Now correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't there several explicit protocols about operating within another Exemplar's jurisdiction? Wait...that's right, I helped write those very protocols myself, I knew they sounded familiar from somewhere."

The sarcasm of his words were obvious, yet the tone lacked any sense of her actions being taken with anger or annoyance. If anything he was taking the premeditated effort to operate in AR-0202 behind his back almost eerily in stride and completely against any expectations based on her knowledge of him and his personality. Finally meeting Addison eye to eye he continued, wagging a single finger as if he were a schoolmaster scolding an unruly child.

Ian - "Not to mention about how many rules you are breaking by directly involving yourself with the political and military activities of an entire star system, or that it just happens to be the one where your alternate has recently been deposed. I would most assuredly express my severe disappointment...had I not only expected, but intended for you to do as much should things turn for the worse."

At this point the ruse was more than exposed, the fact that Ian had in fact always been aware of her presence, yet had chosen to neither acknowledge or attempt to have her removed for reasons yet left unrevealed. Taking a few moments to review what information was available to him he continued.

Ian - "It was nice of Maddy to throw a temper tantrum on all of her allies a matter of days before actually needing them to align against a common threat. Kind of difficult to maintain a coherent defense, much less an organized offensive, when all the prima donnas feel disrespected. So what do you intend to do now?"

@embargo:

Solar Hawk walked into the room not terribly long after their little conversation and the delivery of bad news. She was still healing in several visible places and was using a towel to wipe gold blood from her body where there had been wounds not long before. With the help of the cyborg she had healed much faster than she would have otherwise. Her ring was glowing white again as well. "Let me tell you something about dying." Solar Hawk said, her eyes squarely on Agent Barnes. "It's why you fight. See all this around you? You let that attitude get to you and you will die and they will die and everyone you know will die. This isn't a game or a comic book or a movie, this is life, you fight with everything you have and when all you have is your teeth and your finger nails, you use them to scratch out their eyes and rip out their throat. You don't stop fighting until you're dead." She turned her attention more to the rest of the bridge crew then. "Listen, I've been in no win scenarios before, I was there when Zeus and his forces burned Thanagar to the ground and slaughtered my people. When everyone else was dead I put myself between Amun-Ra and a god. This is not a no win scenario. We've just defeated two major catastrophes, I think another two sounds like a fun challenge."

Solar Hawk folded her healed wings on her back and walked over to a weapon rack, removing a spear she had put on board before any of this had happened. "Their are two Hawk Lords left on Earth, you have one of them, the odds are in your favor." She frowned a little, realizing that she hadn't heard anything from Luna Hawk. "Director Ruby, have you heard anything from Luna Hawk recently? I thought she would have joined us by now with everything going on."

@catalina_liafador: @embargo:

Darting past the encompassing greenery, father and son soon paused before the grandiloquent palace that lie hidden in the forest's denser regions. Resting their denim blue eyes on the palace, their gazes held an element of pensiveness and curiosity. Allowing silence, and only the ruffling of the leaves, tropical whispers, and jungle timbres to hang in the air, both New Gods' gazes met in mutual agreement of what their following course of action would be. "Leo", Thee Champion began, the commanding, socially magnetic notes of his voice seizing the atmosphere with gravitas and majestic power, "Whatever we find in there, we deal with it together". Considering his father's words, Leonel offered an alternative.

"At this point, I'm willing to just move this planet from Earth's orbit to just outside the solar system, then there I can destroy it". Shaking his head in mild disapproval, Alexis, Thee Champion's features remained earnest, serious, "No. You shouldn't be willing to do that. This planet is clearly not normal. You don't know what would happen if you were to destroy it. Lets investigate first". Issuing a subtle nod in respectful compliance, Leonel agreed, "Alright. Lead the way". Stepping forward as he climbed the palace's steps, followed by his son, Alexis' eyes surveyed their surroundings as they set foot inside the magniloquent structure. "Woah...", Leonel murmured just above a whisper, taking in the architectural aestheticism and upscale flair of the structure.

While they were unable to detect Catalina's roaming presence, the duo came to an abrupt halt in the midst of their palace exploration. Both their eyes widening, and an expression of immediate alarm emerging from both their visages. "Do you feel that?", Leonel inquired, clenching both fists, "Yeah", Alexis answered, "That's a lot of energy. A lot", he remarked. "And all of it stored in an electromagnetic field", Leonel added before Alexis' correction, "A bio-electromagnetic field. That energy is coming from someone powerful a little deeper in the palace. Let's go", Thee Champion urged before, in the company of his son, bursting forward in high-velocity acceleration, high-intensity photons radiating from both their frames as a means of propulsion, their minds intent on confronting the source of this power, certain that he or she would reveal themselves as the culprit behind Earth-M's emergence.

"Wanna know what's uneasy about this?", Leonel paused, succinctly glancing in his father's direction before resuming as they blitzed through the palace, "The fact that we couldn't sense that energy before entering the palace. This is the type of energy we should be able to detect even if we weren't in the solar system. Energy like ours", Leonel added before Alexis offered his own input. "That could mean two things. Either this person was using something to conceal themselves from detection beyond the palace, or they chose to reveal it to us now. Because he or she knows we're here".

Ruby’s hip erotically swayed back and forth as she proceeded to the conference room, stopping mid-stride her ears perked at the sound of Solar Hawk’s voice. “I must say you’re a tough SOB; how you feeling?” She asked walking shoulder to shoulder with the Hawk lord. “We tracked Luna Hawk to the United States; unfortunately her trail ended at a specific location. With my exile, I’m not authorized to enter the U.S. Not without a valid reason anyway” She said punching her command code in on the conference room door.

“Director Ruby we’re picking up another convergence over the skies of Kansas!” Norfleet screamed, causing the director to dash back down the hall towards the command deck. “What the hell is that?” Ruby asked leaning over Norfleet’s shoulder.

“It looks like…a huge city” Norfleet said, reimaging the computer to zoom in on the massive entity looming over America.

“It’s Asgard…” Maya’s soft voice said from the background. “I don’t know why it’s here, but given my family’s history. This isn’t good; especially with everything we already have going on.” Ruby released another sigh; before standing erect.

“We have an alien invasion to protect against, let me know the moment Asgard begins to show activity.” No sooner than she finished her sentence their attention was snagged by the sound of gunfire.

“Everyone down!” A rouge agent, opened fire on the command deck sending two shots into Agent Barnes and Nofleet. Immediately taking to the ground, the stern director pulled her desert eagle and fired a shot between his eyes.

“Barnes and Norfleet got hit!” Agent Line said, immediately rushing to aid his wounded friends. “Take them to the med-bay. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?” Ruby screamed; couched over the rouge agent checking for a pulse.

“He was muttering something about the king of Skriellberg and the demon queen” None of those words meant anything to Ruby, but it seemed this inside threat was not yet over. “Someone has boarded the vessel!” Agent Hollins screamed taking a small squad to barricade the door.

“How the hell did she get up here?” Ruby said, changing the camera to a woman in an elevator. “Suspect is female, Asian; athletic body build carrying a sword.” Ruby said, taking position behind a desk ready to fire on the woman as she entered the command deck.

“She could’ve been there the entire time” Hollin said, across from Ruby also with his weapon drawn. “That looks like the weapon Sosuke was carrying doesn’t it.” He continued.

Unknown to them, the woman known simply as “The assistant” was channeling the curse embedded in one of their own. Should he answer the call, he’d be force to attack his own teammates.

M.O.S.S.

The orange skinned Earth-M beauty continued her walk to her starship, catching her attention mid-stride; a blinding crimson flash caused her to halt; revealing the one she hoped to keep out of this conflict. “Ian…shit…” She whispered, watching as the senior exemplar came into visible line of sight.

Judging from his cool condescending approach to the situation she gathered he knew she was here the entire time. “Look, I know I’m breaking a lot of rules; but I can’t watch the same thing happen to my reality happen here. I’m not saying you will let things get that bad, but truthfully you can’t be everywhere.” She explained, trying to justify her actions.

“Not long ago, there was a rift in reality; I’m sure you felt it so I don’t need to get into it. Anyways it positioned my Earth here. I believe the sources of our answers are on Earth-M.” She continued, allowing her hands to slide down to her waist.

“But, now more problems on Earth have tied up the heroes, and the Talmuts are pushing their way through the Ninjan systems towards Earth. It’s all really hectic. I want to help the Azure Son on Earth-M so he can focus on the invasion. The question is…are you willing to help?”

Earth-M

“Well…would you look at that” Cat said, watching as the extraterrestrial presence of her father and brother descended upon the uninhabitated world. Pushing through the dense fauna the Dark Cardinal arrived at the foot of the palace eying it with intrigue. Her knowledge of the universe and its components were limited, but she could tell just by looking at the luxuriant exterior of the palace that it was somehow composed of bits and pieces of different worlds.

“Isn’t this a lovely little family reunion” her voice was heard long before her body entered the light spectrum, Cat emerged from one of her portals once again in-between her family members and their objective.

“You’ve been busy as of late Leonel” Cat said strutting horizontally across from them. “All over the galaxy as of late, and yet. Madison has been conquered. Ninjeta will be conquered, and Maya can’t help you now” She was referring to the fact that had it not been for Maya, Catalina probably would’ve bested the Azure Son back in Malaga.

As the three of them stood a low errie sound of organ music begin playing in the background, the source even managed to take Catalina off guard. “Now…which of you wants to die first?” Cat asked, thrusting her fist into her palm creating a nonthreatening gust of darkness. In truth there was no way Cat could take on the might of both Thee Champion and the Azure Son by herself unless she held some sort of a trump card—which she did.

“This is a gift from the Talmut Emperor…” She said, slowly moving her hands above her head, as she did so huge piles of darkness began to rise from the floor; until they took the form of many darkness entities. “These little things…will absorb every ounce of your power...and throw it back at you.” She said, commanding on to jump forward; as it did it self-destructed with enough power to rattle the entire area---and that was just from Catalina.

Downstairs; however a man walks.

It was only just now that the craft used for extraction pulled into the base. Stepping from the chopper and onto the large aircraft they called a base revealed a mess. And it'd been hours sense the engagement she could only imagine how tiring clean up might of been after the ordeal with giants and the like. Stepping over vines away from golden blood and leaping over the hole in the solid steel she moved toward the main entrance ignoring the chaotic imagery. From her position in the prison she got to see a fair share of the broadcasts telling of the titanic confrontation.

Cadence decided for now the actions in the prison would be classified if Ruby wanted to bring it up fine, till then the violet vixen would say nothing. They'd just bailed an individual or individuals from a prison. A high security prison only just recently made active and founded by the latest president. Far as she was concerned discussing it only invited more problems then needed. And surely they had enough on their plate.

With a glance to the skies she could see a faint glimpse of Asgaurd, and a planet in the distance. Opening her dominant sense that of sound allowed her to hear what was going on. Alien invasions soon and gunfire. "Yep enough to deal with allready." Drawing her blade Nighthunter she took a moment to encompass the weapon in a barrier of sound. The focus was at the tip of the blade and base. A planned attack put in play immediately as the ninja of sound took off for the command deck. She only could move as fast as sound still accelerated movement was beneficial. Seeing how much they'd have to endure the sooner one threat was removed the better.

Running at a full sprint her sounder frame vaulted over a railing bringing her katana down in a vertical slash designed to cleave into ones skull. Her steps were soundless her motions inaudible even still the Inhuman didn't bet on a single opponent from behind no matter how stealthy being enough to obtain victory. She fully expected the blade to miss but that was okay for it was not the glittering blade that was the centerfold of the attack.

Rather as the blade moved in it's arc it cast the sound forward and backward. A tactic to box the assailant between two walls of sonic energy. Both began a scream of such ear splitting sound and pressure one would be flung between the two walls with enough force to shatter bone. It'd be like someone with no seatbelt as a bus rolled over several times in a tragic accident. The move further backed by the sound alone which would shatter eardrums and ravage equilibrium. For all the destructive energy however those not between the walls barely heard anything from the attack. Cadence wouldn't harm the crew with her move.

Placing Nighthunter before her in a traditional stance Vocal readied for further engagement. Her blade passed from Nobody to BloodDiamond to her held properties that may help should the fight go on.

@embargo:

"Catalina!", Leonel yelled, an inch from thrusting his antimatter blade through his sister's gut and risk detonating the surrounding region by dissipating the electric and magnetic fields suspending the mass of exotic matter. His homicidal charge halted only by his father, Thee Champion's commanding voice, "Leo! Wait!". With an arm barricaded in front of his battle-ready son, the Herald of Hope diverted his attention to his daughter, Leonel meanwhile, was absolutely livid. He had allowed Catalina to live following her destruction of Malaga. He had never chosen to pursue his sister's death, to actively make an attempt on her life - until now. She had laid the Ninjan Empire to waste, doomed the Earth, and put both Madison and Addison in danger.

Addison was a dear friend, his only surviving friend from Reality M. And Madison was one of his confidants. And a close friend he held tender sentiments for. In his mind, he saw all the people that Catalina was willing to kill. Tassiana, Selene, their mother, their father, Madison, Addison, and even Maya. The Azure Son had had enough. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to kill you", Leonel revealed, his golden boy features austere and cold. Ice ran through his veins as his eyes held the element of ruthlessness, of a warrior who will cut down anyone who stood in his way, anyone except his father. "Leo..", Alexis murmured, his voice growing softer, eyes shutting in expressed sorrow at the reality of both his children willing to end each other's lives. As a father, it was never a scenario that Thee Champion desired.

"Catalina", Alexis began, hoping to reach whichever spec of humanity remained in his daughter's torn and bloodied heart. "Please. You're.. you're sick, this isn't you. You need help. Let us help you", he urged, an expression of concern and care overtaking his archangelic features. Though Ziccarra seemed intent on slaying their daughter, Alexis simply couldn't. As broken and lost as the Cardinal Goddess of Darkness was, it was impossible for him to forget that at the end of it all, she was still his beloved daughter. "Your skin..", he lamented, "Your hair..", he paused, attempting to reach out to her hand, for the protective blanket of a father's warmth and affection to shield her from all the things that sought to hurt her. Then, his hand paused an inch away from her as she issued a question, 'Which of you wants to die first?', she asked.

"Cat its me, its dad. I know this isn't you. I can still see goodness in you. I still love you", his words couldn't have been more sincere, more genuine. But they were in vain as she attacked. "Enough of this, father", Leonel scoffed, indignation rising within him as his antimatter sword vanished, "Your words don't mean anything to her. Neither does your love. Or any of ours for that matter. She feels nothing for us. And by doing this. Threatening the Earth, nearly killing Isis, everything, she's demanding that we do the same. Feel nothing for her". While his words didn't express the truth behind his sentiments, that he still loved Catalina, Leonel was simply a much better warrior than he was a man of forgiveness. "Its time to end this!", he roared, his body flaring with enormous amounts of electromagnetic energy, flailing outwards like a star while Alexis sought to intercept Catalina's attack.

"Catalina, no!", the Herald of Hope shouted, blanketing himself and the darkness entities in his own personal quantum dimensional state with the intention of containing and partially absorbing the energy from their detonation. While capable of absorbing energy, he wasn't nearly as proficient as Leonel. He took the full brunt of the attack, and while it wasn't enough to seriously injure him, he sustained visible wounds. Bruises and subtly swollen features from the eruption's kinetic force, and burn wounds from the energy's heat. Though he was for all intents and purposes, fine. "Cat, please", Alexis pleaded, meeting her gaze with tenderhearted intent. Leonel however, was having none of it. He had allowed his father to withstand the attack in his place and instead had risen to the sky. "I've had enough of this", the Azure Son proclaimed, aiming his palm towards the ground, "I'm going to blow this entire continent to the wind. And you, Catalina, along with it".

"No wait!", Thee Champion cried out, before both he and Leonel shifted their gazes to the source of power they detected before. Just who was in the palace? "Sweetheart its me", Alexis again tried, hesitant but approaching, inch by inch, hoping to embrace his daughter, to reach down and see for himself if she was truly beyond saving. Leonel however, counted the seconds. "This is your last chance dad. After this, no more stalling", he whispered before a smirk graced his features, "Heh.. no more stalling". Abruptly, he accelerated from the sky, propelling himself downwards and through the palace, intent on smashing his way to the lower area that their mysterious target lied. He had enough, it was indeed, in his mind, time to end this. Though as he drew closer, his eyes widened, he recognized the electromagnetic aura he was sensing. ".... No way".

@embargo: Catalina_Liafador

Time Siphon walked onto the bridge quietly. "I heard there's a fleet heading our way." She said with a brief glance towards one of the monitors. "Want me to take care of it?" Even as she asked Time Siphon's mind was reaching out, coiling around the temporal lines of all the crew and ground forces of each one of the approaching ships. She was not at the height of her power, but she was close, close enough to take on a whole fleet if given time to do it. Only the most perceptive had any idea something was wrong, the hair on the back of their neck stood up and a chill shot down their spine.

"I'll need some time to work." Raeyn said. "Keep them off of me for long enough and the whole fleet will fall apart, literally. Do you want me to do it?" She asked. "Or would you prefer to not kill our enemies?" It was an honest question, she was trying to fit into the team as best she could. So far all they had killed was monsters but these were people, aliens perhaps, but people none the less.

@embargo:

Sosuke for his part, allowed himself a moment of recuperation. That was however, until his unique sensory perception seized him by the throat. Coolly lifting his head, an expression of measured alertness being held by his mesmeric features, the Black Lotus gently rose from his seat, his pale, crystal blue eyes surveying his surroundings before again, his powerful sense rang with intensity. It was a combination of electro/magnetoreception and supreme sensitivity to atmospheric vibrations. It alerted him to virtually everything. His entire dermis worked as a sensor that employed ambient energy to see through objects. It was not unlike some form of omni-directional x-ray vision. Only, there was far more to it.

It also enabled him to recognize potential dangers and separate friend from foe. And it was accomplished by analyzing the chances in an individual's electromagnetic aura that occur with shifts in emotional states. His dermal sensitivity to vibrations detected the movement of the hostile that had abruptly boarded the vessel. And immediately, he recognized the electromagnetic aura. "Y-Intercept...", he murmured to himself, an earnest expression overtaking his visage of poise. With his sword now in the mute woman's possession, she wielded one of the deadliest weapons that the Black Lotus himself had ever come across. The sword's blade, a programming glitch in the information fabric of the universe, could cut through anything.

But perhaps worse than that, it activated the curse that Y's tale told would weaken Sosuke's mind, render him susceptible to hypnotic suggestions, before consuming his very soul. There was little time to spare. Darting from his location, the Black Lotus emerged to stand alongside Director Ruby and Agent Hollins. Though intent on attacking 'The Assistant', Sosuke paused, a sharp, agonizing sensation stinging his mind as his left hand shot up to grab the side of his head. "Ah!", the time-displaced samurai cried out in pain, his features wincing as he felt the consequence of refusing the curse's call, its suggestion that he murder his colleagues and teammates. "Attack her...", he struggled to speak, dropping to both knees, "Be quick. She's - A.. Aaah!", again he cried out, "She's activating the curse".

"It.. is the sword. Get the sword from her", he managed to speak, "If you don't... the curse, it will make me attack... you!", he roared, eyes flashing a luminous red for a moment. His will was strong but his body, his mind could not resist for much longer. If Ruby and Hollins failed to retrieve the sword from The Assistant, the beautiful samurai would surely attack them and everyone in the vessel, as per the curse's instructions.

@embargo@catalina_liafador

M.O.S.S.

The orange skinned Earth-M beauty continued her walk to her starship, catching her attention mid-stride; a blinding crimson flash caused her to halt; revealing the one she hoped to keep out of this conflict. “Ian…shit…” She whispered, watching as the senior exemplar came into visible line of sight.

Judging from his cool condescending approach to the situation she gathered he knew she was here the entire time. “Look, I know I’m breaking a lot of rules; but I can’t watch the same thing happen to my reality happen here. I’m not saying you will let things get that bad, but truthfully you can’t be everywhere.” She explained, trying to justify her actions.

“Not long ago, there was a rift in reality; I’m sure you felt it so I don’t need to get into it. Anyways it positioned my Earth here. I believe the sources of our answers are on Earth-M.” She continued, allowing her hands to slide down to her waist.

“But, now more problems on Earth have tied up the heroes, and the Talmuts are pushing their way through the Ninjan systems towards Earth. It’s all really hectic. I want to help the Azure Son on Earth-M so he can focus on the invasion. The question is…are you willing to help?”

Ian stood in silent contemplation as his junior associate attempted to explain her actions up to this point, her tone and demeanor showing that she felt it necessary to justify her position or risk his deciding to intervene and remove her from the equation. Like many of the newer recruits into their ranks, Addison had a very limited personal relationship with Ian, his time spent on Ascension Point having lessened over the years in regard to his position as monitor of AR-0202. To them he was little more than a collection of stories and anecdotes, many he assumed to have suffered from varying degrees of exaggeration over time, a hardass veteran and survivor of the First Reality War whose exploits painted a very different picture than the man he was today.

Wilhelm - "It's your own fault Ian, I told you by not spending more time and being sociable with the next generation they would always assume the worst when you showed up. They know why your code name was changed to Armistice, what it meant when you stepped foot on the battlefield."

Ian - "I'll be sure to throw an ice cream social for all the new kids the moment we save the universe, is that fine with you mother?"

Allowing Addison to finish, he raised a single hand to ensure she did not continue with what was an unnecessary plead for understanding.

Ian - "You severely misunderstand my unannounced appearance Addison, my sermon was meant in jest as I am not here to even discuss stopping you from your present course. If anything I applaud seeing one of the newer set taking the initiative, even if I am just the slightest bit insulted you thought you could meander behind my back without my noticing, but that is neither here nor there. I am fully aware of the recent events that transpired within your own reality of assignment, as well as those that pertain to the crossing over to my own. Preparations have already been made on my end to organize as formidable a unified front as possible from Earth itself, STRIKE has been made aware of the looming threats and as we speak are planning a direct response, behind the scenes my sleeper agents await on standby to act as reserves or support as needed."

At this point Ian took a moments pause to allow Addison to absorb the fact that she was not as alone in this effort as she originally thought, there were other players being assembled behind the scenes, other resources that could be tapped, all was not as hopeless as once believed.

Ian - "As for my direct aid....there is no need to remind you as to the fate of my own home world, I know what it feels like to see everything and everyone you know and loved wiped away by the selfish whims of others. In that case others decided that I would not be allowed to aid in its defence, and others failed and died in my place. The very moment that Earth-M crossed over into this reality, they removed the protection of the mandate that held me at bay, I have no intention of seeing history repeat itself in my presence."

Restricted Mode - Safety Interlock One - Released

Restricted Mode - Safety Interlock Two - Released

Restricted Mode - Safety Interlock Three - Released

Restricted Mode - Safety Interlock Four - Released

Restricted Mode - Safety Interlock Five - Released

Restricted Mode - Safety Interlock Six - Released

Science Directorate Mobile Weapons Platform "Armistice" - Unrestricted Mode Engaged.

@solarhawk: @embargo:

The Doctor sat in the area in which he was sent, without having ever budged from his spot, seemingly in a meditative state. Eyes were closed, legs were crossed and his arms rested relaxed in his lap. His large frame still with injury. He still had the black Q-Dot forged arm, but he was recovering slowly. At approximately the rate of a normal human. In this state, he listened to all that occured on the ship and throughout the world. What seemed to be a moment of respite turned into something more dire, an extra terrestrial invasion of some kind. This is no coincidence. It must be connected. All of it is connected....

Someone walked in, and the Doctor did not open his eyes, although he did know of their presence. "Mr. Burns. We are releasing you." The agent tapped a button on the containment field to Burn's cell, as he opens both of his eyes, them falling upon the agent whom has released him. "Our director also would like to see you, when you have the time." She adds, as the large, built borg takes to his feet. "Thank you, Ms." He replies back politely, as she calmly steps out of his way.

Things however had taken a turn for the worst, and he went over to the med bay, to the aid of the two downed agents. Surgeons prepared simply moved aside. "Allow me to help." They wanted to refuse, but after seeing what he had done, they had decided not to. He looked them over, seeing they are both in shock from the impact and will require immediate medical attention, but much like Solarhawk, Burns could indeed heal them, and even quicker then he could the hawk woman, and less effort. His Ichor, or "nano-blood" dripped from his arm and moved as an animate puddle to the two, the "blood" being transparent. As it would crawl into them, it would enter through wounds out of benevolence, and immediately begin rebuilding their own cells from ambent material within their own body, primarily fat cells, which luckily, agent Barnes seemed to have an excessive number of.

From the wounds, lead from the bullet could be seen exiting the wound as the fluid carried it out, and then sealed the wound completely as the rest of their internals were in optimal shape for that of a healthy human being, though they were both still unconcious. Burn's "blood" would then crawl up his leg and into his black arm.

"They will live." Burns soon then goes off, to find the director, the hawk woman and appears through a door as he sees her coming. It would have been wise to go outside where he could get more power, but Burns is stuck within the two ton range with his weaker, but useful shapeshifting black and moving at approximately the speed of a well trained human. Which would appear fast for one his size. He saw a woman walking across the command deck, one with a sword he couldn't analyzed. One that he could not tell what it was made of. The blade was an anomaly.

He only looked at the woman, and made his presence known to the director as he walked over 20 feet away, the steps of nearly half ton Borg easily heard, as he stopped and watched the newcomer to see what it was she would do next....

@doctor_burns: @embargo@fraga

Solar Hawk followed her back to the bridge and arrived just after the shooting was over. She shook her head at the needless death of one of STRIKE's own. "To answer your question director, I'm feeling fine, but I think we could both use a little help from my other incarnation. Amun-Ra built as tough, but he didn't build us to fight alone." She watched as the cyborg healed the two wounded agents and shifted her focus to the screen as the intruder boarded the ship.

Thanks to the arrival of the prison break group, Luna Hawk soon strode onto the command deck as well. She was festooned with guns, wearing two pistols on her hip, a hand crossbow with under-slung pistol and a virtual armory that she dumped out of a gym bag onto the central table of the command deck. "You are woefully unarmed." She said to Director Ruby, apparently not at all impressed by the Desert Eagle. "I thought I might fix that."

Luna Hawk took the largest gun (see above) on the table for herself, slamming a drum magazine into place and chambering a round. Solar Hawk shook her head and twirled her spear in her hands. "This is enough for me."

"These weapons all fire Nth Metal rounds, they'll shoot through just about anything, do not aim at something if the round can go through it and damage something important on the carrier. I don't know what's going to get through to us, or who that woman is on the monitor, but I do know that it's time to start shooting and asking questions later. Do you want to keep reacting to your enemy or take the fight to them? Those are the options now." Luna Hawk said. "You there." She said, walking over to the Samurai under mental assault. "I suggest you hold this." She said, handing him her Nth Metal mace. The mace was anethema to magic, it should at least repress the curse for now or make it easier to fight.

"She has a bit of a thing for guns." Solar Hawk explained. "I have no idea where it came from. Tell us what everyone what you need us to do director, Luna Hawk and I fight well together if you want to pair us up or we fight well with others if you need us to. I'd be willing to fight that woman with the sword if you feel others would be better focused on other foes." Solar Hawk was fearless, she'd already had the hell kicked out of her once or twice today but was not at all concerned with going at it again.

@embargo: @timesiphon: @fraga: @solarhawk:

Zoe didn’t know what was going on anymore, other than her ribs were still killing her. Everything was so chaotic, out of control, this was unlike anything she had been involved with before. Sitting on a bed in the medical bay with just her undergarments on she took in a wincing breath she glared at the doctor who was currently treating her fractured ribs. While there was actually nothing that could be done for them, he was placing a 'rib belt' around her rib cage to at least provide some stability so she could jump back into the fight.

"You can't take another blow like that to the ribs, otherwise it might dislodge, puncture your lung and then you'll be down with a Pneumothorax" The doctor began rambling, as if Zoe actually knew what he was talking about.

"No punch to the ribs, got it." The young hero gasped in pain as the doctor gave her two injections at once along her thigh. "OUCH!" Her glare could melt his face off right about now.

"Morphine and steroids for the pain, you'll thank me later." He gave her a pat on the back and quickly moved to the next patient.

Standing up she took in a breath to feel a slight ache still lingering, this was as good as it was going to get, she had been out of the game for too long. Slipping her costume back and placing her helmet back over her head she began walking out, trying to adjust to the feeling of a compression wrap around her chest as two more people were suddenly rushed in. "Agent Barnes and Norfleet!" She shouted, realizing that the attack was now on the command floor.

“Shit!” Zoe yelled as she quickly rushed forward, Agents scattering about could be seen as she made it to the command floor to see Sosuke yelling out about something about them having to attack a woman with a sword? Aww man what did she just get herself into? Solar Hawk was there with another winged woman who… looked almost like Solar’s twin and Siphon. At least they weren't alone.

“Guys whats-?” Then almost on cue, her head turned to the elevator that opened and there standing was a Asian woman, standing tall, confidant and with a sword in hand. That was more than enough for Zoe to go right into attack mode. She threw both her hands forward as the immediate area around her rose in temperature, at the same time a rush of golden flames rushing towards her like a dragon towards it’s prey.

H.A.T.V

Y-Intercept or a shell of what she actually was; appeared in the threshold of the elevator with a serpent snare slowly slithering across her lips. In a show of strength, the Cocaine Goddess threw but a simple hand up to block the inhuman’s strike, stronger than diamonds; Y’s bones prevented substantial physical damage.

Vocal proved to be a bit more than what Y bargained for, as she moved to strike the lavender haired beauty; a thick wave of sound pinned her lithe body against a reinforced steel wall. The wave did little to rupture her actual body; but managed to send a turbulent uproar ringing through her ears. “Gah!” Y screamed, pressing her hands on her ears trying to fight off the excruciating pain to no avail.

As she stood in the chasm of painful sound, a thick fireball smashed into her body cavity, as with the sword; her bones were so dense she almost couldn’t feel the blunt force, but the singed smell of flesh littered the air around them.

“Good work Cadence, Nova” Ruby said, rising from her concealed location placing her eyes on the respective heroes. Vocals control of the sonic airwaves was amazing; she was able to isolate the sound so that it only affected Y. “Ma’am, Dr. Burns has stabilized Norfleet’s and Agent Barnes conditions.” Agent Line reported not taking his weapon off the Chinese vixen.

“We’ll wait until we wrap of this mess, Raeyn before we switch gears to that” She said still with her weapon trained on Y. “Hollins take her sword” She said, placing a placid hand on Fraga. “What the hell is going on here…what curse” She asked trying to make some sort of connection between Y and Fraga.

“I appreciate the upgrade, but I’m fine with my Desert Eagle. I like to keep things simple. Looks like Vocal has detained the suspect. We have the sword. Now let’s get some answers…stay close” She said, eying both Solar and Luna Hawk. She’d dedicate the appropriate time to actually speak with Luna Hawk when this all calmed down.

As she moved towards Y, she noticed Burns, Time Siphon, Feral Nova, Solar Hawk, Luna Hawk, Fraga, and Vocal all present. “Where’s Maya?” Ruby asked, stopping half the distance to Y. “She’s in the med with Barnes and Norfleet.” Agent Line said, pying around Y intercept with his gun trained on her.

“Strong as hell…useless as fck” Ruby murmured, moving towards Y. “I want her detained, we don’t have time to deal with her; and get this body off the floor.”

It was on Ruby’s command that Y perked up at the sight of the bleeding body. Drawing a tentative smirk, the cocaine goddess slowly began to dissipate until her entire body disappeared and reanimated over the dead agent.

“Blood bender!” Agent Line screamed, Y’s hand moved before anyone could move, “Fck what is…she …doing to me” Ruby screamed feeling all the blood in her body being manipulated. Y’s eyes dart toward Fraga and his teammates; daring them to try something or she’d kill their director.

“Now…attack them.” She commanded through the mental link they both shared via the curse.

M.O.S.S.

“T-thank you” Addison said, concealing a would be smile; she would’ve released it had it not been for several happenings in just the short time they were conversing. “STRIKE seems to be having a hard time focusing on just one task. Their command deck is under attack…Catalina Liafador is on Earth-M now… “Addison revealed knowing he knew full well he was aware.

The number of task at hand was seemingly overwhelming, but backed by THE senior Exemplar there was no doubt in her mind that the two of them could complete the task at hand. “Where do we start” She said, opening a panel near her space striker. Pressing a few buttons, a chamber rose from the ground revealing Addison’s uniform.

“I know the unrestricted protocol allows us to interfere, but I’d much rather keep out of Earth’s affairs as long as we can. I think a direct charge to Earth-M or combating the Talmut’s would be ideal” As a bright light encompassed Addy’s Amazonian frame; the sound of the Ninjan Armada mobilizing around them suggest they were preparing for battle.

“You can hear the melodies of battle from here…” She said, thinking about how fast the Ninjan Systems were falling. “At this rate they’ll be at the Crattian Moon before a Ninjan nightfall” She said, opening the hatch on her starship.

“Earth-M or Madison…your call?” She said, leaving the choice to her superior. With Catalina interfering with Leonel and Thee Champion on Earth-M, Addison believed they were facing unknown odds. The situation around them had the potential to be…Cataclysmic; the Talmuts were well into Ninjan airspace; but without Madison navigating them into battle, they were almost sure to fall.

Earth- M

Cat took on a feral persona, her postured hunched, hands clawed; ready for what would be the final engagement between Leonel and herself. “Bring it bitch” She taunted, keeping her telltale grin. The always aware Cardinal of Darkness eyed both Leonel and Thee Champion with warrior intent. “I pulled my punches in Malaga, heh. I didn’t even use a quarter of my talents. I’m a genetic replica of my mother…trust me bitches I’m just getting started” She responded, unimpressed with Leonel’s threats.

Her attacks did very little to damage Alexis, but it didn’t matter the energy she absorbed from the damage would charge each of her strikes exponentially. “What is with you, I am the bringer of death” Catalina screamed trying to shake the confusion building in her mind.

Capgras Syndrome, her lifelong ailment; it was truly hard for the Liafador beauty to trust anyone close to her; because of it…an entire city perished. Leonel’s plunder into the dark depths of the palace inadvertently sent the Catalan Countess on the attack.

Because Alexis was so close, it was nothing for Catalina to releasing a thunderous amount of shadow projectiles, decorated with the beautiful cosmos; the energy streamlined for a point blank strike on her father’s chest.

Deeper Below.

Adorned in an iconic red one-piece with a headdress similar to Maya’s, the salted- hair man stood with his hand behind his back staring at a massive tower. Chain-linked along the frame were look-alikes…alts; alternate versions of this universes champions.

Maya Lopez of Earth Prime, A reality Warper; Thee Champion and Thee Goddess of Earth- M. “Soon I will have all the pieces.” He said, turning to Leonel with a personable grin. Looking into the eyes of…himself; the much older Leonel closed the distance between them without moving the slightest muscle.

The climatic clash between Catalina and Alexis cause violent ripples to molest the tranquility of the room, but the repelled stares between the Leonel’s created a tension of its own.

“Well…now what?” He asked with an inquisitive brow.

@embargo: @fraga

Time Siphon watched Y-Intercept for a moment and her eyes lit up like twin fires as the animal was allowed to the fore of her mind. Sometimes it was best to fight a predator with a predator. She stepped physically between Y Intercept and Ruby. "Do you know what's interesting?" She asked but did not allow Y-Intercept to respond. "Everywhere you go on this world there's another creature so arrogant in its self assurance that it doesn't really take stock of the situation its in. For example, you seem to think that one lone Samurai, regardless of abilities, is enough to keep everyone else in this room off of you. You didn't even survive walking through the elevator door before you were nearly trapped. If not for the blood on the floor you would have been...which reminds me, thank you for blowing the element of surprise just so you could command a samurai and try to stop some agents from acting because you have this director under your silly little spell."

While she spoke her mind was coiling around Y-Intercept's delicious temporal line. The talking was just a distraction from that...and one other thing she had been doing. Using her own body as concealment she reached back and touched Ruby. She hated to burn the temporal energy, but sometimes it was necessary and she was about to get more than she was going to burn. She focused and jolted Ruby out of the flow of time, shifting her to the time between seconds and effectively making her unreachable. The temporal burn was enormous and resulted in the loss of a memory shard but she still had the abilities she needed to deal with the fleet later. Still, it was pushing it and the hunger inside of her grew immensely.

"Oh, by the way." She smiled and started to drain Y-Intercept's temporal line. "I'm Raeyn."

@catalina_liafador: @embargo:

He was close. Or at least, it seemed as though he was close. Close to reaching into his daughter's heart and plucking out that one fragment of her humanity that still remained. Alexis, Thee Champion, he would never be like Ziccarra and Leonel in that while they loved Catalina, they were capable of making the decision to take her life. He just could not bring himself to even entertaining such a thought. It wasn't because every time he met her gaze he saw his wife's face or that he saw bits of The Goddess in her personality-wise. It was because, to him, at the end of the day, she was still and always would be, his little girl. But her condition had worsened, her mental state had deteriorated.

And though it felt as though he was on the verge of reestablishing a connection with her, Leonel's abrupt acceleration into the depths of the palace had unfortunately, turned things sour. His chest was struck, the energy sizzled and their environment smelled of burnt ozone as Catalina's scorching energy strike flung him several meters across the forested region. Marking the strike's trail was a fissure, uprooted trees that collapsed to the side, and hot, ionized air blemished with energized particles from his daughter's strike. Rising to a single knee, his right hand clutching desperately at his chest as he winced, Alexis weakly met Catalina's gaze. In that moment that he had attempted to embrace her, he had dispelled the protective field of perpetually replenished quantum particles around him.

His durability had been cut by half, and as a result, the Cardinal Goddess of Darkness' attack, dealt far more damage than it otherwise would have. Reestablishing the field, Alexis slowed his breathing. He could feel his chest burning, it was searing hot from Catalina's strike. Bits of his flesh were melted and whatever heat managed to sink deeper nearly charred his rib-cage. Yet he still wouldn't fight. "Cat...", he began, rising to both feet, his expression was concerned, it was paternalistic, it exhibited the sheer magnitude of a father's affection for his daughter. "Please stop this. You know I would never do anything to hurt you", even then as she did battle with him, he refused not only to fight, but even to defend himself. "Just come home, I promise nobody'll touch you. Nobody'll hurt you".

"Daddy loves you, baby", he smiled, loving as he stepped forward, certain but careful. "I promise that you can trust me", he affirmed, his tenderhearted gaze meeting hers as his approach drew him closer to her, expressing his desire to see his daughter come home. "As a father and a daughter, we're connected to each other, Cat. I'm the bones of your spine. The knee joints in your legs. When things get heavy and you need to stand, I'm be there for you, making sure you can stand straight and true. Being your father taught me a lot of things", he paused. "Nothing makes me both so happy and full of joy, as well as frightened. I'm happy when you embrace me, us, your family. When you allow us to show you love. But it frightens me when I fail to make you feel like you can trust us. Catalina, I would die to protect you. Because when I became a father, I realized that my heart is running around in everyone else's body. Maya, Tassi, Leo, and you".

While Thee Champion made his attempts at bringing Catalina home, to help her back into the family, Leonel found himself confronting the last person he expected to be responsible for this entire ordeal; himself. "What the...", he murmured, surprised. He looked just like Alexis, though his appearance held his distinct, golden boy features, the subtle cockiness that he harbored and his father lacked. Then however, as his counterpart uttered the words, 'Now what?', Leonel smirked, generating high-energy particle collisions to form his antimatter blade held by electric and magnetic fields, "Now we fight", he concluded, readying his sword for a battle, against himself.

@solarhawk: @feral_nova: @embargo: @timesiphon:

Resisting proved difficult, laborious. But the Kenjutsu King remained unbent. Well, not physically at least. Dropped to his knees, palms braced against the cold, metallic floor as the agonizing strain of the curse's pull took hold, bombarding his body, mind and spirit, Sosuke almost felt his entire being wane. Though his features, perfectly proportioned and worthy of wonderment seemed to belong to a Shinto deity of male beauty, his expression of suffering and pain seemed to belong to a Shinto deity of despair. Battling the curse's whispers were beginning to take effect, "It... is... impossible", he cursed just above a whisper. Fortunately however, his teammates did their part in retrieving the sword from The Assistant or Y's possession.

Struggling to his feet, he felt the quiet, tranquil touch of Director Ruby's hand resting atop his shoulder. "The curse.. the sword", he struggled to speak, mildly shaking his head, as if to jolt it free from the numbness that threatened to seize his mind. "The sword is cursed. It appeared on my person the moment I emerged from the time portal that sent me to your time. She was the one who sent the sword to me. Its curse will first weaken my mind, render me her puppet, then consume my soul". It was all he knew of the curse. That it stemmed from the sword and that those were its effects. But perhaps it didn't truly stem from the sword, perhaps its source was Y-Intercept herself. And more than anything, perhaps The Assistant was not truly Y-Intercept, but a simple avatar of the Cocaine Goddess.

The bout however, was far from over. Y had not been defeated. She rose and harnessed the power of blood-bending to seize control over Director Ruby's body, violently contorting it with less mercy than a puppeteer shows their marionette. "Director Ruby!", Sosuke yelled, shifting his gaze towards his superior with an expression of alarm. Intent on attacking the Cocaine Goddess, the Kenjutsu King paused. With Ruby's life at risk, he could not risk alarming Y into ending her life. His teammate, Raeyn however, didn't seem to harbor those concerns and confronted their enemy. Meanwhile, Sosuke the Samurai Saint continued to fight the curse's suggestion, until Y commanded him to attack his teammates. He felt it then. If she was not stopped, he would not be able to resist another command.

I'm sorry.

This is easier said than done, because I've already done so much in such a small amount of time. I've knocked a giant into space, probably fried enough ocean water to set coastlines back across the world, and nearly killed myself twice. But even with the potential ecological shock from the sudden drop in sea level, none of that's what I'm concerned about. I nearly killed several of my teammates, not consciously thinking of the repercussions of my actions. Of course, all of this is part of not thinking. Suddenly you get the powers of a god and it's all you can do to keep from letting go.

Every move you make is like brain surgery.

One mistake can ruin everything.

---

Ronnie sat there, staring at the hammer that started all of this. Why him exactly? He had no clue. If they wanted a blockbuster, they should have gotten Roosevelt or something.

What, and are you just going to sit here and cry about it? You're here now. Do something.

"Oh yeah? Like what? We already have the Champion, he's pretty much all we need. It's fine if I just disappear."

You're acting like a spoiled brat. Pick up the damn hammer and go fight.

"And what will you do if I don't? We're literally fighting another Earth right now. You have no idea what to do because you can't grasp the concept of what's going on right now."

And so what if I don't? I know that your home is in danger. Your family is in danger. That should be reason enough to fight.

"My family thinks I'm dead or something. I don't know what Director Ruby did, but I'm in this for the long haul. Even if I went back they wouldn't recognize me."

That's no excuse and you know it. Even if they won't know who you are, you know who they are and you know they're alive. You see them every day on the security feed Director Ruby has especially for you. I say again, pick up the hammer and go fight. I know you can do this. You just have to -

"Have to what, hit it really hard? Then what? We have chunks of debris the size of Russia falling down on every part of the planet. It'll be a disaster. I'm sure Maya has some sort of plan, Sven. She can do anything given enough time."

And do you think we really have enough time for that to happen?

For the first time that evening, Ronnie parted his gaze from the hammer. The preliminary ripples of something disastrous in the upper reaches of the atmosphere cascaded across the horizon, framing the centermost point of the spheroid looming miles and miles away. The disturbances were caused by its scouts, acting as antennae for a much larger and much more destructive purpose. An invasion fleet swarmed out of the sky - mere droplets before a downpour.

Ronnie. Please. You've demonstrated the spirit of a true warrior before, and the mind of a brilliant tactician. Even if you risked the lives of your friends, they are all still alive and well. You can fix that mistake now, by helping them in their time of need. Only you can make that choice. No one else is going to lift that hammer and do what you do. Your decisions can change landscapes, but more importantly, it can change lives.

The man who went to school for a degree in mathematical science had no idea how to respond to this statement. Ever since he started wielding the hammer, he began hearing voices in his mind, when he tried to sleep. Most of the time it was Sven. He explained it as some sort of post-mortem communion with the deceased, more specifically those who previously wielded the mystical weapon. The more confident he was in his abilities, the more powerful the weapon became. The smoother the lightning flowed. The easier the thunder became to channel.

Something swelled inside his chest.

It was time.

@embargo@catalina_liafador

Ian was pleased to see that his curt explanation for his abrupt arrival was taken at face value, now that both were assured that each was on the same page, plans of how to move forward could be resolved. Addison's rundown of the factors in play were a plethora of obstacles to overcome, so much so that he barely faulted her for feeling overwhelmed only moments ago. While thankful that the newer Exemplars never had to be put through a trial by fire as his generation had, it also left them relatively inexperienced with conflicts of this scale.

Ian - "The underlying source and orchestrators of these events lie on Earth-M. Until they are dealt with directly these further distractions will only continue to multiply as to divert attention and resources away from the heart of the matter. Our presence is required there as the current defenders, while vastly powerful in their own right, have walked blindly into a scenario where their adversaries have designed the interaction to give them every advantage. Someone has ripped a page from the very playbook that made up the First Reality War, something only we have the experience to counter. STRIKE will have to fend off their invaders on their own for now, between the number of metahuman agents at their disposal I believe it to be well within their abilities. As for the incoming Talmut fleet, possibly I might be able to sway the stance of the Alliance on that matter, at least once I change to a more familiar attire."

While the intricately detailed armor could very well be considered his primary form to those that know him within the confines of Earth, that was only due to the fact that Ian had only ever revealed himself in a restricted state. The mechanical and menacing appearance was specifically designed to reflect his chosen persona as a stealthy power broker working behind the scenes, yet the greater cosmos knew him by a far different appearance and reputation, one that would be integral to his upcoming actions. The vision of hardened ebony armor was stripped away, along with the self-imposed limitations designed to hold back the full power at his disposal. Under the current threat, caution was no longer the better part of valor, it was time once again for the reluctant soldier to go to war.

In its place stood a figure whose profile stretched far beyond the simple confines of Earth and its sphere of influence, one that would strike the necessary amount of fear and awe into the seats of power he meant to enlist into their ordeal, should they like it or not. Waving a hand the largest view screen in the room was ordered to re-initiate contact with the representative of the Omega System Alliance that had just recently blew off his present associate. The face of each factions representative quickly turned from minor annoyance to one of surprise and wariness once they realized that it was not Addison attempting to make a final plea for their assistance, but someone they were all intimately familiar with for the most perilous of reasons.

Armistice - "Let us forgo the formalities as this is neither a social call or even a discussion. My associate contacted you recently and leaned on the compassion and common sense that your refusal to involve yourselves in the coming invasion proved to be nonexistent, I have a different take on the matter. Four years ago there was a coordinated effort to overthrow each of your houses by alternates of you and yours from foreign realities. A conspiracy that I brought an end to and saving not only yourselves, but that of your spouses, your children, your very people. That is a very large debt, one could easily say that could never be repaid, but I see things otherwise and and am calling in that marker. Should you refuse this request, note that such a decision will not come without the most dire of repercussions, as doing so will mean that I will from this point on write you off as to my protection. When they return to finish what they started I will not intervene and your seats of power will be ripped away and the legacy you intended for your descendants will burn in front of your eyes. I do not care about your fragile egos or using something as trivial as a slight by Madison Maynard to justify actions that place billions of lives in danger. Each of you should be ashamed of your behavior and if it takes a direct threat to get you to perform your intended roles, so be it. I expect to see each and every one of your fleets taken off of standby and ordered to intercept the coming Talmut fleet immediately, any delay or deviation from this course will be taken as refusal and you will deal with the aftermath alone. That is all."

With that Ian deactivated the view screen without even waiting for a response from the assembled representatives of the Alliance, all had come perilously close to losing their thrones at one time and that very loss was the only fear that would move men and women such as them to overlook the previous insult in time. Looking over at Addison, she noticed his head tilt and slowly shake from side to side as he examined her very revealing costume up close, never having seen her in it until this moment.

Armistice - "How in the hell am I supposed to concentrate on saving the universe with you wearing that? If I lose my attention span and get killed, know full well that its all your fault."

@fraga: @solarhawk: @feral_nova: @embargo: @timesiphon:

A combination of blazing heat and sonics from herself and Nova was quick to detain the assailant. Or so they had thought pinned against a wall and in agonizing pain it seemed a easy success. That was until the woman dissolved reemerging from the blood of the dead. A ghastly sight to say the least but Cadence reminded herself she hadn't the time to be revulsed especially not now. For as the blood bender revealed that most barbaric of arts she was taking control of the director. Forcing S.T.R.I.K.E's commander to threaten her own life, there was no honor to this assassin but that did remind her who did.

She needed to safeguard Ruby first however, closing violet eyes she focused on the sounds within the room. A sense of hers that was unlike any other able to go as far as hearing the faint echo the sounds made as they reached the barrel of a dessert eagle. Vocal focused on that sound and then hardened it. Seaming to create a wall in the gun stopping a bullet should it be fired. It wouldn't change the weight she doubted the blood bender would notice, she wasn't sure if even the director would see the faint glow if Vocal was successful. If the ninja of sound was however then she'd spare the director of atleast one forced suicidal attempt. With that she turned to Fraga, it took only a second for the construct of the gun Vocal's actions looking like she'd given up on trying to fight the blood bender.

Kneeling before her agonized comrade she altered the sound around them. What had been orders and bravado became tranquil mimicking the sounds of a waterfall and the lush forrest around such a place. Sound could affect emotion while not an empath she could influence emotion. She sought to use the new sound to help block at least the verbalized orders and calm the samurai as well to allow better focus.

"Sosuke right? Terrible way to meet eachother sorry for that. Listen the more you resist the harder it is for you and the worse off probably everyone is. I want you to fight, focus on trying to resist using your abilities instead. Fight with the honor of the sword that is. You're a better martial artist and swordsman but I can endure that, I can't however endure my bones being brittle." She wasn't lying she knew full well he was a better fighter, if for no other reason then he was a true samurai. What can be taught today is good and likely very true but it's passed down by generations upon generations and some of it's methodology as such influenced by time. Still she could take being knocked around perhaps even being stabbed, however if her bones were messed with she'd have a hard time going any further.

@embargo:

Elysia was bright as always. Even when hours ago news was getting around of a giant that waltzed through the ocean they weren't afraid. That was because at any time all an Elysian had to do was gaze to the horizon and they would be reminded who they were. For before them backed by azure skies and the beautiful landscape over the wall was the brass statue of Doom. These monoliths of art served as a never endin reminder that they were safe. So they continued to work and play all but two.

"Ow! Amanda you know not to use the blow torch when I'm down here!"

"Cass you know if you ask me to help you build something I'm probably going to use the blow torch." The sister countered continuing to mold metal with searing heat. "Besides your supposed to be tough as nails so stop being such a baby."

"Why would I be tough as nails?" The redhead asked with an arched brow. She'd never understood why her dad or sister thought her strong, not even after having been told plenty of times.

"Think about it you built a mobile suit that goes what the third the speed of light. Even with your gravity devices that's a lot of g force you have to endure. You leaped to join Doom's forces without question. You allready are starting to rival some of their finest."

"I'm just smart, shut up." With that a small alarm flaired Cass looking to the screen upside down. A wave of her hand and a small robot rolled toward her with the video screen rotating it for the engineer. "Ha I knew it."

"Knew what?" Inquired her sister looking at the monitor. It's information was vague to say the least and mostly in binary looked more like Matrix openings then any actual data.

"Aliens will be coming soon. And that planet has some serious shit going down to." With a flip she got to her feet ran to a computer and began to put in a code to seal what the sisters had been working on. "See a while back I'd picked up alot of traffic on this thingy when a planet came into orbit. So I launched some stuff to scout whatever and keep me posted. See that?"

"The eighth row of ones and zeroes thirty five digits down?"

"Yeah that, that's them. I don't know who them is but that's them. And they've got a fleet coming. That's why we built this." As the device closed Amanda realized it to be a rocket. It'd be enough to get the Requiem into orbit devices inside the rocket were evidently a flight prototype for the giant mechazoid.

"Cass! The Req wasn't built for space combat. Taking on a fleat is going to be havoc on the body. Destiny is only outfitted with a total of fifteen rounds that's not going to best some alien armada. On top of that why in the hell would you not tell someone ahead of time!" The jade haired little sister was rightfully furious.

"Could you stop yelling" the elder sister commented as she uncupped her ears. "We'll just have to hope in not the only one up there then. And how was I supposed to know I was supposed to tell someone about alien invasion forces." Her sister's eye visibly twitched in frustration "you should do something about that."

With that Cassandra Thirdgate moved to take refuge into the pilot seat that was like a second home to her. And Amanda moved to a series of monitors computers and keyboards. "Systems ready" the pair stated in harmony as they ran the checklist they knew by heart. So familiar with the machinery even add one were easily integrated. And soon enough the ground oppened up and the Requiem took off encased in an egg like rocket that raced skyward.

With a blazing trail the machine pierced the atmosphere and soon broke into the heavens stars reflecting off the polished steel. With what would of been a hiss if not for the soundlessness of space the egg cracked in a rather needlessly artistic design. Bursting open to form a series of mechanized wings laced with thrusters. It was both beautifully crafted yet crude being still just a prototype. The tangerine and crimson mech revealed itself ready to take on whatever forces might come. Apart of her wanted to break off in pursuit of the massive energy signature on the alternate planet. Something told her however that might not be best for a machine however. In fact not long ago she saw a mech be thrown by a mutant in Tokyo if the energy signature was of some people like that she was almost sure she hated the idea of going down there. Wreckage of said machine told Cass she'd be rebuilding her baby for like days. And while remodeling was fun repairs she found to be a bitch to go through.

HATV

Everything was happening so fast, Agent Barnes and Norfleet were injured; thanks to Dr.Burns impromptu surgery they recovered fairly quickly. “Their vitals are improving they need you on the deck fast” the doctor pleaded; sending the young power princess back into battle.

Y’s eyes quickly darted to Raeyn as she casually moved into her line of sight; the fairly young Time Siphon spoke in arrogance which caused the mute assassin to smirk a little. Y’s ever vigilante eyes saw the movement in the room as it happened, she was well aware of the heroes plot to save Ruby; but it didn’t matter once she locked on to Ruby’s blood she could manipulate it from anywhere on the vessel.

Agent Hollins touched her blade, making him susceptible to the same manipulation that she now had on Fraga. Time Siphon, in all her infinite power and abilities; didn’t seem to understand what this assistant was. A spirit, a curse; that exist on three of the universes’ spatial dimensions, a being born in an era and time that exist long before this universe came to being.

Small fragments of Y already exist in this plane, through Catalina; the now dead Agent, and Fraga; because of this the moment she crossed over she was without the energy needed to fully unlock her dormant personality, she lacked the will to speak—she could, but it was pointless. Her body would not operate at the level she wanted it too, not until she consumed Fraga.

Y stood as an engineer of space, staring into the blood thirsty eyes of the Time Siphon; the trump was that Y emerged physically just a few short days ago, marking her official reentrance into the CVNU, Time Siphon had been here for a while; there was no means for a casual relationship between Y’s entry and their fated meeting today--in short not enough time passed between their occurrences for the two “events” to occur in the same spatial location. She could drain to her heart’s content, for the moment Y was unaffected.

Vocal succeeded in retrieving Ruby, but It was almost too easy to blood bend someone else; as she moved to someone else to spur the life of fight in Fraga. Dropping a black egg, the Cocaine Goddess ducked under a shroud of thick black mist, making her nearly invisible to those with regular eyesight. Those standing in the mist would find their eyes burned by the unforgiving crushed glass and peppers.

Tucked snuggly in the corner of the massive room, Y’s begin to release a multitude of poisonous Ninja stars; attempting to throw off the heroes yet again.

“EVERYONE DOWN!” Ruby grunted forcing herself to the floor; while the poisonous structures rained above. “She’s here for Fraga, but more importantly…she’s here to stall.” Ruby gasped, trying to regain her normal voice.

“Y=Mx+b” Agent Hollins muttered, walking around seemingly dizzy. “Hollins get your ass down!” Ruby screamed, popping up the fearless director tackled her field agent to the ground. “His eyes…” she whispered, realizing he too had touched the cursed blade.

“She’s….spreading….” Ruby lamented again, this time rising to her feet. For a moment, Ruby thought of forcibly ordering Fraga off her ship; but that wouldn’t stop them from being at her mercy in such a confined space.

It was in her search for answers that she found one; in a 5’11 teenage supermodel. “Maya, use the Eden transporter!” Ruby screamed, falling to the ground as she had been nicked by one of Y’s blades (No one heal me lol)

Removing the transporter from the floor, Maya tossed it in the middle of the chaotic room; those caught in the light; including Y-intercept, would be transported to the devices last coordinates—Earth M.

M.O.S.S

Addison watched visibly impressed as Ian adorned his “combat uniform”, composed of the cosmos and its many systems; Addison watched as the real-life stars released a vibrant shimmer on his chest, and smiled placidly.

She didn’t get a chance to comment on it, just as quick as he changed; he was in front of the OSA demanding they get involved or they’d face the consequences. She couldn’t help but take a timid stance and watched as their various faces coward in fear at what their presence here meant. Addy had not revealed she was an Exemplar to the OSA; she felt doing so would alert Ian to her presence. The way he commanded them was awe-inspiring.

The stories did him no justice, he was far more impressive in person; truthfully she fell asleep during all the holoslide-shows of his exploits in class. “Well, Dr.Pierce; I do believe you have just scared an entire system on your side. I believe the Earthlings call that scientology.” Addison jested retrieving her Eden transporter from her spacecraft, as she returned to her original setting she looked down at her revealing outfit.

“I got it from the Ninjans….needless to say clothes are a scarce resource. I just logged in the galactic coordinates for Earth M” She said, tossing the device on the ground a bright light encompassed them both depositing them to the uninhabited world of Earth-M.

“This is my world…but it’s like it’s been pulled from the past” Addison remarked, digging her hands in the dirt to once again touch the fresh earth of her once dead world.

Pressing her hand against the ground, she could feel the powerful reverberations emanating from the turbulent battle in the nearby palace. “Leonels in there…” She whispered. She shared a hidden connection with Leonel, they were freedom fighter on their world, eventually she was captured by the society and eventually rescued by the Exemplars—they were the only two left.

“He needs our help!”

The palace.

“Why are you making this so easy?” Cat screamed with darkness tethering from her slender body. She could see her dad would not raise his hand to attack her, she hated it, Cat saw Maya in his protest; a vision that infuriated her to no end.

“Fine…” She said, throwing her hands across her chest as if she were a spoiled child. “If you won’t fight me. I’ll give the command to kill Madison Maynard.” Cat hissed with a naughty smile resting on her immaculate lips.

Catalina grew to be proficient in pushing the buttons of her oppressors; she knew how much her father valued life, killing him or Madison didn’t matter to her; she just wanted someone dead. From below she could feel Leonel already engaging his alternate self; which was right where she needed him.

“Excuse me father” Cat said, pushing her corruption through the whole Leonel bore through the floor, little did they both know the level of planning Cat and Alt Leonel put into this plane accounted for the lack of Thee Champions aggression.

Enveloping himself in tactikenisis; the alternate Leo prepared to engage himself in battle, even though the situation called for battle he could feel the other now intruding on the planet. “Addison…” he smirked; “Flash-stepping towards” Leonel, the True Champion pushed a concentrated chasm of photon energy toward Leo’s chest, hoping to leave him open to Cat’s manipulation.

@embargo@catalina_liafador@maya_liafador

Even as Addison made light of his aggressive stance towards the collected representatives of the OSA, she could barely perceive the almost pained expression emanate from his now cosmically adorned facade once his transmission concluded. While the forceful and direct commandment did have the intended effect of motivating the assembly to look past their own self-interests, using the extensive power at his disposal to enforce his will upon others to such a degree was something that never sat well with him. Were it not for the fate of billions hanging in the balance, Ian would never resort to such base tactics as even if it was for the greater good, he still felt like a would-be tyrant to act in such a manner.

Armistice - “Altruistic intentions aside Addison, using our status to manipulate others into acting against their will is something never to be taken lightly, and only to be utilized under the most dire of circumstances, especially at this scale. I took no pleasure in forcing their hands, no matter how I felt about their callous disregard for the bigger picture and the repercussions that would result of it, we are not gods and should not be deciding the destinies of entire cultures. Normally I would stay my hand, even in disgust, but there are other factions in play that must be countered so that fate returns to their own hands as soon as possible.”

The moment of levity intended by his previous comment as to her very space costume was apparently lost in the translation, as Addison made only the most rudimentary of explanations before changing the subject. Ian hoped she did not take it as a personal slight, to be honest he had to admit the look worked for her, at least in his opinion, but that would be a discussion for another time. While capable of making his own way to their intended destination, he allowed her to to the honors and in a mater of moments the two were deposited on the barren landscape of Earth-M. Ian watched as she reached down to touch the soil beneath their feet, as if needing the tactile reinforcement that this world, her world, really was still there.

Armistice - “The fabric of this reality has been strained by the alarming number of large-scale manipulations created by those whose power far outweighed their skill in such endeavors. Nearly none are aware of the wholesale changes made by the psychically fragile reality warper Clarice Pierce (no relation), nor of the damage that was left in the wake of such a broken mind attempting such a feat. Maya Liafador has ample power at her disposal in that department, yet relies on nothing more than natural aptitude, she has no concept of the dangers that come from using her abilities at such a high level with so little experience. Not to mention the recent appearance of an amnesic Time Siphon within this quadrant, in her state she simply does not fully comprehend the ramifications of her abilities being used at scale in regards to to how space and time are intertwined. Like pulling on the loose strings of a sweater, to do so too often will only ensure it to come apart at the seams in time.

Even before he finished speaking Ian could notice the growing tension within Addison, unlike himself she had a personal stake in the battle currently raging ahead of them. His knowledge of her connection to Lionel was based on nothing more than exemplar reports, but her eyes and face told a far more eloquent story. She was all too ready to throw herself in the fray and throw caution to the wind in defense of a loved one, an eagerness that would only bring further risk to herself and the success of their mission.

Armistice - “Do not fall prey to your natural protective instincts as have those that have come here before us Addison. Victory will not come from allowing our enemies to dictate the course of events in the vain hope that our supposed superiority will somehow overcome their extensive preparation. We need to take a contrarian stance and deploy our assets in a manner they would not expect, thereby disrupting the rhythm of this scenario and putting us on even footing at least in terms of strategy. I sense that Maya and others have just transported here from Earth, contact her and guide her to side with her brother in his battle below while you instead aid their father in his above. As for me, with Maya no longer on Earth the sky is literally falling in her absence so allow me to take my leave, I will join you as soon as a more suitable place is found for your errant world.”

With his point made Addison saw his form disappear from sight, only to manifest itself just outside of the orbit of the renegade planet below. While the very idea of pulling an entire planet from one reality to another would be considered out of the realm of imagination for most, it was sadly an often enough used ploy where a countermeasure had to be created.

Ian - “Earth-M is being drawn to this location as it continually tries to take what would be its set place were it from this reality. We do not have the time to systematically repair the various faults in localized spacetime that are allowing this to occur, so we are just going to have to take advantage of the very same broken state of affairs for our own ends. Time to hijack the planet from the original hijackers themselves, not only will it spare the civilians below, but it will sure as hell garner the attention of those allied against us. Anything that disrupts their plans and confidence only further tilts the odds back in the favor of the defenders below.”

Silently Ian merged himself with the imperceptible field of altered spacetime that enveloped the vicinity of Earth-M, once cradled in its intimate embrace it was time to literally hack the system and enact his will upon the universe over theirs. Tapping into the very field itself the effect of his own spacefold generator was amplified to an unquantifiable degree, resulting in the entire expanse shifting to another point along Earth's natural orbit. While nothing more than a temporary reprieve, at least the fallout of what could only be expected to be a titanic conflict to come would at least be confined to this world alone....for now.

@maya_liafador:

Once outside and on another world Luna Hawk opened fire without the slightest hesitation. Her gun roared to life, spitting fire out an enormous rate as the weapon mercilessly opened fire with a storm of Nth Metal bullets, each one charged with fifty thousand volts of electricity. The weapon fire sounded like a zipper and the barrel was overheating within a second of opening fire. The first barrel was simply rotated out into the triangular shape of the gun and placed in a cooling chamber. The whole weapon rotated so that a second barrel quickly locked into place and firing resumed. This process continued constantly, interrupting the fire but only just as the time it took for each barrel swap was kept to an absolute minimum. The weapon would run out of ammo after five seconds of firing, but it had other weapon modes built in, this one was designed to force her opponent into maneuvering and reacting rather than dictating and acting.

Luna Hawk's HUD focused in on her target, scanning her body for potential weak points and displaying any information as a small window in her peripheral vision. Even as it did this the computer in her helmet saved the information and logged it away in a new file it created called Y-Interceptor to be used later if there was ever another encounter. The hyper advanced computer also kept constant track of her movements and apparent powers, logging those and sometimes even suggesting courses of action to counter a particular maneuver.

As for the Nth Metal rounds, there was very little in the universe that Nth Metal could not penetrate, of those materials were Vibranium and the Time Siphon's Temporal Armor. Even Vibranium would strain immediately under enough impacts and begin to break down but Vibranium had the same effect on Nth Metal. The two were equals to one another in many ways, except that Hawk Lords could quickly manipulate and shape Nth Metal materials and charge them with varying levels of electrical energy. There were other forms of Nth Metal as well, but Hawk Forged Nth Metal was the top of its class. Luna Hawk's helmet was built from it, as was her gun (though not its barrels) and so too was her armor, but she preferred to only activate the armor if it proved a necessary precaution. So far it had not.

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

Time Siphon instantly shifted her tactics. There were two purposes for this, additional fuel and a better mode of attack. If her enemy was currently immune to the effects of aging she would not waste time using it until that were no longer the case. Instead she latched onto the things she had observed during the battle so far. The first to go was the body of the fallen Agent. It aged into ash in a matter of seconds and denied Y-Intercept at least one of her gateways. The predator considered killing the other two members of the team that were afflicted, but she chose not to. Attempting to do so could have significant repercussions down the road...and it was not entirely necessary. There was another, more interesting way of taking care of the problem with the samurai and the still living Agent Hollins. The sword.

She knew from her observations of its temporal line that it was not supposed to exist, the sword was a weapon composed elsewhere or perhaps formed by a fraction of the universe when it was first created. That meant that the universe essentially had no idea how to respond to it, so it basically did not. That was why the blade could cut through any material, the universe and physical reality chose not to interfere with what it could not calculate the existence of. There were thus two problems with the blade. First of course was the lack of response by the universe but more critically was that she was using the blade to manipulate the corrupted members of the team. The obvious solution was to remove the blade from the equation. The weapon's temporal line was in a constant state of flux which meant she was effectively unable to lock onto and drain its temporal energy. There was another way, one that would suck, but it would work.

Raeyn accelerated the flow of time for herself by a thousand fold, allowing herself to move like a speedster without actually being one. She closed the gap between herself and Y Intercept in a shockingly brief period of time, considerably less than a second. The temporal reserve burn needed to do it was not insignificant, but it paled in comparison to what she was about to do. In the same motion she grabbed the blade with one hand and tossed something away from herself with the other. The item she sent flying landed on the ground less than a dozen feet away. She had worked hard to get it back, put it back together from pieces she had scattered throughout the universe in her healthier days. It looked almost silly, a small gray cube. When it touched the ground the grass around it withered and died. I can't believe I'm going to burn it on this. What a pathetic use of a priceless artifact. It may never function again.

Not pathetic Raeyn, flawless. This is your world now, this is our world, if we run now we will run for the rest of time. The little girl insisted.

She did not really have time to discuss it further. She mentally coiled around the blade like a python, it thrashed and struggled on a battlefield the others could not see or witness as the Time Siphon built a prison for it. She screamed in a combination of agony and fury as she ripped significantly more temporal energy from her own body than she could afford and performed a maneuver that typically took the energy of billions upon billions of years to pull off without regressing significantly. She had no choice. This was her world now and no one was going to take it from her. The act was beyond painful, it was like ripping off her own skin an inch at a time, but she locked her will to doing it. The blade would not respond to the universe or the universe to it, so she'd shunt it away, lock it into a temporal loop that took, at best, significant effort to reach and at worst, would lock it away for eternity. Perhaps because she was weakened and lacked the necessary reserves it would one day emerge from its prison or someone might be able to go and retrieve it, but not without significant personal risk to themselves and a great deal of time. With the act complete Time Siphon returned to normal speed visibly pale and weakened. The animal look in her eyes was dominant, if there was anything left of the other two personalities inside of the apex predator, it was impossible to tell in that instant. Her reserves were now painfully low, high enough only to allow her to come back from death or drain what she touched but all of her ranged abilities were gone.

For now. There was the cube, it had been cast aside for a reason.

(obviously up to you if it works or not, but I sure hope so, lol. Also please someone grab the cube, she'll be needing that).

@catalina_liafador: @maya_liafador:

Though she seemed to harbor some form of internal conflict, Catalina nonetheless resumed her assault, expressing her indignation with her father's refusal to return fire. "I'm not going to fight you, Catalina!", Thee Champion made clear, "What kind of father harms his own daughter?", he inquired, rhetorically of course, meeting her gaze as she exhibited her frustration. "Catalina.. no", the New God paused, his voice's tone growing more and more concerned with his daughter's descent into darkness. She didn't need punishment, she didn't need a beating, she needed help, she needed her father. She might not be aware of it yet, but Alexis was. Unlike Ziccarra, unlike Leonel, he didn't see a monster when his eyes met Catalina's.

He saw his daughter, lost in a sea of psychosis with boundaries that seemed to stretch to infinity. "Catalina, this isn't you!", again he attempted to reason with her, to reach her. She couldn't possibly so far gone that she hadn't even a spec of humanity left. "You don't have to kill anyone! Killing Madison won't accomplish anything. All you'll be doing is hurting the people who love you", he explained, referring to Leonel. Despite what his son had said and the promises he made to slay Catalina, Thee Champion could still sense the reluctance in Leonel. In the depths of the Azure Son's soul, he still loved his sister. "You don't have to do this, Cat! Its not too late. Please. I'm asking as your father, as someone who loves you enough to die for you".

"When you look at me, Maya, your mother, Tassi, and even Leo, do you really feel nothing at all anymore? Do we mean nothing to you anymore?", he inquired, attempting to mask the potential hurt that would emerge should Catalina's answer be 'yes'. It pained him though, that he was expecting her answer to be just that. "NO!", the New God screamed, catching sight of his daughter's tangible corruption falling into the hole that led into the palace's lower area and towards Leonel. Alexis knew, he knew what would soon come to be. A corrupt Leonel was simply not something he felt the world was ready for. Nor was he. On his own, the Azure Son exercised only moderate restraint with his power. But a corrupt and evil Leonel? There would be no chains of restraint.

More powerful than even Thee Champion himself, within him Leonel held enough power to generate luminosity that dwarfed the entire Milky Way galaxy's illumination. "What have you done?", Alexis said, just above a whisper. Meanwhile below him, Leonel struggled, clutching his head as he sought to wrestle away the corruption that battled to seize his mind and spirit. It was too late however. Just as he detected Addison's neighboring presence, the Azure Son's eyes went black with Catalina's darkness, and his complexion uncharacteristically pale. Abruptly, the ground quaked, cracked and broke while the air went scorching hot as electrical arcs surged all about. The palace began to crumble and its shattered bits levitated, orbiting around an outward flailing sphere of blue plasma. And in the sphere's center was Leonel.

From him, electromagnetic energy, searing heat, gravity, unfathomable pressures, radiation was being generated. He was in essence, a miniature star, allowing his counterpart's propelled photons to come into contact with the aura of pulsating energy that enveloped him. "I know you can do better than that!", Leonel roared, Catalina's darkness having awakened the darkest aspects of her brother's personality, his desire for battle and his bloodthirsty ruthlessness. There stood not a New God, but a killing machine. Bursting forward, accelerating his frame to 99% the speed of light, Leonel dropped levels, intent on employing his freestyle wrestling prowess to wrap both arms around his counterpart's hips in order to control his lower body movement before bracing his leg behind of one of his adversary's for a trip takedown... at 99% the speed of light with unimaginable kinetic energy, heat, and force, enough to liquefy the organs and boil the brain of a lesser metahuman.

Following possible success, Leonel would seek to use his positional understanding to brace a hand against his potentially grounded counterpart's thighs so that he may pass the full guard and secure top mount, from where the New God's ruthless ground and pound in the form of elbows and other top strikes, all coated in superheated plasma would be unleashed. Meanwhile, Thee Champion watched, an expression of horror blemishing his archangelic features. Though he couldn't on his own, he'd have to at least attempt to stop his two sons. For now, Catalina would have to be pushed to the background. Fortunately however, with Addison's ingress, the situation could potentially be salvaged.

"You cannot win,"

Thirty seconds ago, Ronald Lincoln prepared for a fight he never anticipated being a part of. This Ronnie of thirty seconds ago aimed his hammer at the nearest cluster of enemy vessels, planning to hop from swarm to swarm and thin them out as much as possible. He had confidence in his strength, but the lightning still burned him. His trepidations also plagued his mind, eating away at the confidence he built up. What if he hurt someone important to him again?

As soon as he took off, the carefully-laden measurements he calculated in order to balance out his weight and the momentum of his flight trajectory simply didn't matter anymore. Something took him by surprise, blindsiding him. A ship? They weren't moving this fast, nor did he even see one flying that close to him. Of course, that would be the point of blindsiding. But he doubted that even the most sensitive of aerial control instruments had the ability to go from such high speed to absolute zero within the span of half a micrometer.

The colossal momentum behind the tackle implanted Ronnie into the ground. Only then did he manage a glimpse of his attacker. To his horror, something familiar looked back at him.

"Sh-Shawn?"

Careful Ronnie. We don't know if that's really your brother or not.

"Of course it is, Sven. I think he just wanted to stop me from fighting those things. He wants to talk, and come up with a pl-"

Fists harder than diamonds crashed into Ronnie's jawline, nearly snapping his face apart. A trail of blood followed the demigod as he plummeted through dozens of nearby trees. He would heal, but for now his misplaced teeth filled his mouth with a disgusting coppery taste that never left. However, nothing felt worse than the sting of betrayal. Betrayal that his brother, or maybe even something that looked like his brother, would throw a punch meant to truly harm, incapacitate, or possibly kill him...

He tightened his grip on the hammer.

This was not Shawn.

"Ronnie..."

The demigod cast his eyes skyward, towards the source of his name being produced. Confusion swept over his heart.

"I'm sorry Ronnie. I never wanted to see you die,"

Tears cascaded down from the golden harbinger of devastation, his fist reddened with Ronnie's blood clenched apologetically - quivering.

"Especially twice."

@maya_liafador: @lunahawk:

Burns had only silently siphoned off energy from the ambient area. A mere bystander to the events that had come to pass. His muscle had a tensile strength of nearly 300 GPa, but his he could only lift two tons. He thinks it foolish that timesiphon would act so boisterous towards one who could likely kill the director of her team with likely little more then lifting her finger, though Burns was not attached to anyone here. He didn't know anyone.

But the siphon was right about one thing. Her powers and Fraga's power couldn't effect everyone. Burns included, being that he had no blood to bend, and no bone to mold. And indeed, even with Burn's power being lowered, his strength and speed were affected. But not his durability. He closed his eyes as her explosives went off. Sending glass shards and pepper about. The pepper failed to irritate Burns and the glass failed to actually penetrate his Quantum dotted eyes as they hardened. Throwing stars bounced off his chasis and fell to the ground.

Burns then darted off towards her at currently Olympic speeds of 29 miles per hour, seeking to restrained her however, something unexpected occured as he witnessed anther anomaly. Through means unknown to him and conventional physics, he found himself to be far away from the earth he'd known. Where all his pooled energy and resources lied.

"Damn it!" The Doctor yells. Unsure of what exactly has occured. This is unprecedented. It seems clear that this "goddess" truly does hold great power. Still, she has hardly done a thing. This thing is but a distraction, and a grave threat to the others. One who must be dealt with quickly.

He looked towards the engimatic woman as he seemed to slip away from the conflict, and from there, once out of sight, visible light bent around him first and then soon, the entire electromagnetic spectrum would follow suit. He was now cloaked from visual sight.

He would then proceed towards the enigmatic woman, invisibly, but with heavy footsteps that came with his 950 pound body. Then he would attempt to grab her, and restrain her with his two ton strength mark, seeking to easily lfit the vixen off the ground as he rushed her and hold her in the path of the bullets. Burns himself willing to withstand any of the bullets thrown that would pierce his body and more importantly and hopefully, hers. With any sort of disrupting the doctor's cloak.

(Oh I forgot about the glass and pepper spray when I posted. Both Hawks would be fine from the pepper and would have ducked with everyone else for the shuriken. Time Siphon's armor would have ignored all of it.)

The ground is shaking.

The whole planet might as well be.

Hammer to fist, raw, unrelenting. The golden man from counter-Earth swings around, an elbow to the carotid. Ronnie chokes. He's easy prey for a punch to the spleen. His heart murmurs, and his words are slurred for a second. His mind is racing. The enemy's coming.

A flash of lightning, forty yards from the starting point of the vicious melee. Turisas' hammer sings and the golden man is sent skyward - nearly a mile - breaking the sound barrier, reaching Mach 6. He's only stopped by regaining consciousness, but the godling is close behind. A second bolt, and the two return to Earth's surface faster than their departure velocity. Ronnie pins Shawn to the ground by his throat, turning the golden man's face red with effort. The hammer is sinking into his Adam's apple.

Just out of arm's reach, but not fast enough.

Two beams of energy emerge from the golden man's face, blasting Ronnie's molecules apart. His skin is frying, flesh melting. Incomprehensible heat turns the soil to glass, something that is shattered once Shawn follows through. Returning the favor for the throttling, Shawn lays into Ronnie's crippled defenses with one strong blow to the ribcage. His organs are rattling, and his godlike stamina is keeping him from falling on the spot.

Ronnie does not show mercy in this moment of vulnerability. Planting a fist across Shawn's face, the two once more descend into the mud. Thunder roars overhead. A torrential downpour follows. The puddles turn red with specks of blood. Brother against brother, it does not matter if they are from different worlds.

The tears are still real. The pain is as if they are family. Shawn grabs Ronnie's cheekbones, and breaks his nose with his forehead. Momentarily stunned, Ronnie is left open for a liver blow.

He immediately counters by smashing Shawn's facial bones with the hammer. The sky opens with light and electricity, more than enough to power New York City for the next three decades. It's not enough to stop the golden man. It's never enough.

The two are fighting to the death.

"You killed your own brother! You have no honor or love in your heart! A trickster's grief!"

"I had no choice,"

"You LIAR!"

Flesh is corroding under the pressure. Bones are starting to break. Godlike anatomies are being put to the test. Shawn has the slight speed advantage, being without a weapon and using his bare fists - which are as good as any weapon. Yet Ronnie can hit harder, as well as short-circuit nerve endings with his lightning. This is coming into play slowly. Bit by bit, Shawn is getting groggier. His fists are not clenching as tightly. He counters this by starting to use the heels of his palms. They hit just as hard.

One after another. Ronnie's eyes are swollen shut. He can barely breathe. Shawn's knees are giving out. He's swallowing back blood each time he exhales. At length, Ronnie forgoes the hammer and drops it into the mud. Sven doesn't need to see this. None of the spirits do. There's an honorable fight, there are massacres, and then there's this. A duel between brothers going beyond brutality. Nothing recognizably honorable about any of it.

The sweat and tears are indistinguishable. Ronnie pushes harder, forces Shawn onto his heels. The golden man is unable to close his fingers, but Ronnie grabs two handfuls of Shawn's neck. Another faceful of eye-laser is negated with a vicious headbutt.

"Is this how you did it Shawn? Is this how you killed your Ronnie?"

The golden man has one advantage in this position, and knees the godling in the groin. Ronnie staggers backwards, testicles retreating back and sending shivers up and down his spine. There's nothing to do at that point except wait, and Shawn exploited that opening. He used the full force of his palms to squash Ronnie's ears, completely shattering his equilibrium for a split second.

Then, the eye-beams could not be interrupted.

The same blinding heat erupted from Shawn's face, charring the land and turning most of the battlefield to molten earth. Even the thick cloud of steam from the lava and the rain intermingling could not keep them apart.

"It's not...not th-that easy to explain..."

He could sense where Ronnie lay. The godling did not move a muscle, so Shawn had the opportunity to recover while he walked - sauntered - towards his objective.

"Maybe out of some sick curiosity, I had the hypothesis that by killing you I could have my Ronnie back. That's what...That's what I was told,"

"Then why kill him in the first place?" Ronnie muttered from beyond the mist.

Shawn stood over him, ready to deliver the finishing blow.

"I told you before,"

His eyes started to glow again. Ronnie's severe burns ached in an anxious familiarity with the pain, unable to resist anything like it for a third time.

"I had no choice."

At this very instant in time, Shawn realized that this had all been a ploy for him to be distracted long enough for Ronnie to spring his trap. Not strong enough to fly just yet, Shawn jumped out of the way of Ronnie's hammer returning to his hand. Something similar to that monstrous momentum would have cracked his skull open. Even so, Shawn realized Ronnie's plan all too late.

Without the proper strength recovered to fly, Shawn hovered there - right above Ronnie, and his hammer.

Just as Ronnie couldn't resist the heat again, Shawn couldn't resist the lightning again. One final burst from the heavens, one comparable to the one that sent the giant to Venus, and the battlefield shifted once more into a blinding white light, drowning out Shawn's horrendous screams.

And then, nothing.

His explanation of their role as it pertained to galactic affairs made sense, though at the moment she didn’t care to speak on it, because of other pressing matters; but she agreed wholeheartedly with what he said. If people knew the true nature behind their presence, they’d crumble at the sight of them. Whole civilizations would willingly hand over their titles for fear of destruction. The secrets the Exemplars guarded wielded enough power to shatter stars. Addison, though still a “rookie” in terms of service, understood that each and every one of her actions had a price wagered. In her role as Madison Maynard’s “Vizier”, her consults were limited to vague plans of actions; and quite often little zero exchange of information.

Her “secret” as an Exemplar was unknown even to Madison, for the simple fact that she was not supposed to be operating in this reality. Her feelings on his words manifest through a series of critical facial movements that suggest she’d thought a lot about them.

His words hit hard; she knew he was referring to Leonel, while true; his words seemed oddly familiar. She remembered a woman, blue in skin tone; speak something along the same lines; she never revealed her true name, but she went by SOIF perhaps they knew each other.

As the orange skinned beauty moved at a high velocity above the thick fauna of Earth-M, a perplexing thought scrapped the edges of her mind. Reality –M was created by Maya Lopez, of the Prime Universe, and with it Leonel and herself. When the 3^rd Society manipulated Ziccarra and Alexis Pettis, they caused the implosion of the world’s sun which ended pretty much everything. “How could she be sensing the presence of two Leonels, if Leonel was specifically created for the MU?

Bursting through the atmosphere surrounded in an ornate pumpkin aura, Addison’s sensed the presence of Y-Intercept, the omni-existent spirit that sought to plunder universes. Addy’s first encounter with Y was in the “Y Reality” a period that came to be after, Y intercept became a singularity; and positioned herself at the center of creation.

Though her form in this universe was significantly altered, Addy knew it was her. Confident the STRIKE team could handle her without the reality warping power princess; Addison cloaked herself in similar fashion to Ian and descended upon Maya.

“Maya, it’s me Addison; Leonel needs your help. He’s in the palace battling an alternate version of him. I’m going to aid your father, he’s here fighting Catalina. We have to be swift but efficient. Addison said, tugging at her far shoulder.

With that Maya took off from her STRIKE team to aid her brother in what was proving to be a destructive battle. Adhering to Ian’s commands, Addison followed in tow to help thee champion tend to Catalina.

The cocaine goddess found herself transported on an entirely new planet, not that it mattered; with her curse still in place she had Fraga, she also had Agent Hollins who was strategically left back with the vessel on Earth. Despite being ridiculously outnumbered, there was still a wildcard at play.

Her eyes immediately alerted her to Luna Hawk’s intent to use her weapon, the astute properties granted by her electromagnetic vision gave her a form of low level precognition. Pushing her hands forward, the cocaine goddess crafted a bone shield reinforced by what could only be considered a blood construct. From behind her shield Y released a sickening chuckle, she found it amusing how this “Assistant” only had a fraction of her actual skills, but managed to hold A Time Siphon and Hawk Lore at bay.

It was all coming to an end; the “Assistants” body was becoming worn from the strain of battle, and even as her construct held up; she could feel penetrating bullets pelting through her body. Her superior blood should’ve healed her, but her true harbinger felt it was time she died. In truth, an invisible force knocked her slightly into the path of the bullets. As bits and pieces of her own blood begin to pelt away, in a similar manner from before she teleported through blood into a crouched position.

Before death would be allowed, she needed to distract a bit more, it wasn’t time yet. She watched as Time Siphon used an excessive amount of temporal energy to try and lock her sword away, but as it was revealed, Y was unaffected by time. Just as quickly as her sword disappeared, it reappeared again this time in her own hands.

“Fragments of my soul are forged into this blade” She revealed, marking one of the few times she cared to speak. Throughout the entirety of the bout it was clear that she had very little damage, until Y begin to remove herself from the human part of the assistant. Thick blotches of blood began to form on her extremities; she actually appeared gassed and tired.

The cursed sword abruptly disappeared, it would herald a new host, as for the assistant; she simply felt dead of a simple blood clot.

Ruby remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the entire ordeal, she wasn’t feeling like herself. There was a slight cut across her wrist from where Y-intercept’s star cut lightly across her flesh. She’d be poisoned before, not a big deal; what she was currently feeling was light headed.

“T-this is all some sort of elaborate plot to do what” She grunted, acting as If she’d fallen. “Where’s Maya?”

In what seemed like both directions, turbulent tremors molested the counter earth, it was just as effed up as their Earth—except the causes was also on this planet. Ruby’s wincing eyes darted upward to see the faint sight of the Human God—Turisas, battling what appeared to be a golden god.

Trees tumbled, as the two gods tore the sky asunder, she had no idea where the secondary entity came from; but he attacked Turisas as if he had a vendetta.

Violent wind shockwaves pushed through the area, knocking the already ailing director off her feet to the soil. “What the hell is that?” She asked, gritting her teeth writhing in agony at the poison pumping through her veins.

Holding her ailing wrist in pain, she repelled a paralyzing scowl; daring anyone to try and help her. There was work to be done. Plans to be thwarted, time management were necessary. “The Fleet” She muttered erratically, trying to conjure a sentence.

“We’ve been getting played the entire time…these beings are just a distraction. Get to the palace, help Maya. The sooner we end this ordeal, the sooner we can switch focus.”She lamented, feeling her searing flesh throbbing.

“Go….NOW THAT’S an order!” She screamed, using a knee to prop herself back upright. As she rose with the assistance of a tree, it happened, so fast and sudden, so tremendously horrifying in power; a powerful white flash encompassed the entire area causing the ground to literally to implode beneath her.

Now back on the ground, and rolling into ditch compliments of Ronnie’s uncharted power, Ruby laid laboriously breathing, not compelled to move she only had one thought—her son, Daniel.

With the stakes now higher than ever, it didn’t take the Power Princess very long to reach the now crumbling palace, whatever was taking place was dwarfed by the sudden power surge she felt from behind her. The combined might of Dr.Burns, Time Siphon and Solar Hawk put down Y-intercept for now; she amounted to be nothing more than one more distraction on the playing field. A tool someone perfectly employed to deal with Time Siphon, not Fraga as it would seem.

Ronnie was hearing voices in his head, or another entity; his battle with an unknown enemy here on M was cataclysmic; she found feel the uninhabited planet bending at the will of the gods. Feral Nova, while she was here; her injuries kept her at bay for most of the conflict.

Burns, seemed to lose a step in the transportation from Earth, but he continued to be a huge asset, despite his lack of explanation for being here in the first place. Solar Hawk and Vocal were physical champions, despite her injures S.Hawk was still willing to fight; a trait Maya admired her for.

Vocal wasn’t new, but she was new to this side of the team; she didn’t miss a step when jumping in to help against Y.

Then there was Maya, she contained Gaia back on Earth; but throughout this entire ordeal she allowed the pressures of her powers to get the best of her. Reality Warping was easy, easy when things needed a simple fix, she could do simple. However, this event was not simple; she immediately felt overwhelmed with what she could do. Because of it, she stuck to her base power set, containment shields and light magic. Slowly sauntering through the crumbling threshold, her eyes were fixed on Catalina, her sister, Thee Champion, her father, and Addison Hopewell, a friend of Leonel.

Addison kept her distance allowing the herald of hope to try and talk some sense into his distraught daughter, but as Cat’s corruption energy seeped deep into the castle floors it was apparent he was not getting through.

“I don’t know you people…” Cat said, once again placing her hands back on her hips. For a moment, only a moment her eyes met briefly with Maya; a part of her knew who she was, but another part wanted her dead.

“Cat…I know they took Bishop from you. But we got him…we got him back!” Maya called out, trying to appeal to the only person Cat was known to have feelings for. It was at that moment that her father screamed, the sound of his horrifying wail caused both hers and Addy’s heart to race.

“What have you done?” Alexis asked cryptically, Maya and Addison stared at one another in confusion. “I just completed the next phase of the plan…”daddy” Catalina taunted.

“Leonel, she’s corrupted Leonel!” Addison screamed, knowing what terrors would be wrought with a corrupt Leonel.

“This was all too simple really.” Cat teased. “I’ watched Leo and Alexis fight before, I’ve actually fought Leonel, and I could tell he was stronger than you” She said, pointing in the direction of Alexis.

“The next part of this is really confusing so try to keep up”

“You bitch” Maya hissed, making her fist growing uncharacteristically angry. Cat glanced back at Maya and drew a tantric smile.

“After, I destroyed Malaga and you locked me away at the edges of the galaxy, I was approached by ministers of the Talmut Empire; they told me of a plan to invade Ninjeta and wanted my help. I said, not problem. I only asked one thing in return; that he allowed me to make you suffer. So I had to put some plans into motion, starting with Fraga.”

“As you know at one point in time, I was the host of Y-intercept; it’s easy to channel her once you’ve had her. Kind of like an everlasting orgasm. Anyways, I forced her to entrust her demonic “Flower of Carnage” (Her Sword) to Fraga, this in-turn infected him with her curse, allowing her to physically manifest in the body of one of her descendents in this universe—the assistant. They assistant had only one job, drain Time Siphon.”

“How’d you even know a Time Siphon was on Earth?” Addison asked curiously.

“Because this part of the universe is a lot more knowledgeable about those types of things. Do be rude.” Cat jested again waving a solid finger.

“I knew bits and pieces about Space-like intervals to know Time Siphon would be completely ineffective against Y; so now that’s she drained her energy…she’ll have to find more…”

“The fleet…” Maya whispered, knowing Time Siphon could possibly go rouge if she feed on so many. “Correct my dear sister.”

“I suppose you’re responsible for what’s happening with Turisas too.”

“No, I had no hand in that, but after I dealt with the pesky little Time Siphon problems. I needed a way to grab Leonel’s attention; through YOUR magnificent Reality Warping; you know, the ones I can extract when I touch people. I reached into the very cosmos itself and brought Reality M here…in its natural state.” Her explanation was only partially true; she did get the Reality Warping powers from a Maya, but not her sister Maya. It was Maya Lopez of Earth-Prime, like Addison she too was accidentally misplaced when M ended. She was found by Catalina, and used for whatever purposes. Cat even managed to secure Leonel’s parents…well their body’s at least. A tool only to mock him.

“Shortly afterwards, I started killing inmates inside my cell on Magog to attract Madison’s attention, I knew she’d bring you and Leonel along for the ride, It was a simple switch with you; capturing Madison, corrupting Gaia. All those events….purposely set you back…”

“I’ll kill you!” Addison screamed, lunging towards Catalina, only to be deposited in a portal and eventually back to her start point.

“Settle down.

“So…who is Leonel…fighting?” Maya asked, feeling the wrath of Leonel deep down below. “He is fighting a masked version of my shadow, but now I have control over him…the plan is done. Beware of the “Man from another world”

Cat hissed with a slight chuckle. “Time to up the ante” Opening what could only be called a portal to the “Ruin”, vessel of the Talmut Emperor. Catalina gave the command. “Kill her”

“NO!!!!” Maya screamed, her channeled light magic to fire a blast through the portal, but it was too late. With a quick flick of the wrist, the Talmut Emperor personally snapped the neck of Madison Maynard.

“I-I…I can’t believe you just did that…” Maya said, dropping to her knees.

“Oh Leonel!” Cat called, causing her shadow to disappear, so that the rage born Azure Son would focus on nothing but the sound of Cat’s voice.

“I want you to kill them…and STRIKE!” She commanded, pointing at both Maya and Addison. Though he was still there, she knew her father remained in shock; she wanted to end him by herself.

“No…Cat…” Maya whispered, tears falling from her eyes.

“I…am going to kill you.” She said, with her russet eyes taking a dark crimson tint, standing beside a now angry Addison, it appeared the Power Princess, The Herald of Hope, Strike, and the Exemplar, were set to battle with an augmented Catalina and a fully powered cosmic destroyer.

@timesiphon: @solarhawk: @vocal: @lunahawk: @last_man_standing: @shanana:

Before the eyes of a corrupted New God, his counterpart disappeared, vanishing like the region that was now crumbling around him, yielding to his power. He did not hear the snap of Madison's neck, a sound that would have certainly allowed him to focus all of his internal anger on taking Catalina's life. Instead, he now set his sights on... everyone. Anyone and everyone who was caught in his line of sight was a target. The Cardinal Goddess of Darkness had used her corruption to magnify the worst of Leonel's traits, his plentiful ruthlessness, and love of battle. He was going to fight and kill them all, he intended to. The ground continued to break under him as he levitated into the sizzling air, the sheer heat being generated from the spherical envelopment of plasma around him began to take its effect.

The air had become uninhabitable. The outward flailing aura, the 'star' around his frame had become white hot in its glow. Airborne particles were ionized and highly energized as arcs of lightning zipped all about, threatening to incinerate anyone too slow to dodge them. It wasn't an attack. Simply a consequence of the energy that the corrupted Azure Son generated. Elephantine chunks of the ground, rock, trees, soil, everything broke free from the surface and hovered all about him, lured by the gravitational pull of Leonel as his field's tidal forces crushed anything that approached. The radiation he was emitting was hazardous. The ultraviolet radiation would scorch and cause cellular damage while the gamma radiation added to the lack of habitability of his surrounding area by poisoning it. The air was being burnt up and that which now orbited around him was reduced to ionized dust and plasma.

Hundreds of meters away from him and it was still too hot for anyone lacking the necessary durability to approach. There was no longer any oxygen within one hundred meters of him. His father, Thee Champion could only watch in horror and shock, rendered almost incapable of registering the ingress of both his daughter Maya, and Leonel's friend, Addison. Addison was powerful enough to survive in the hazardous conditions generated by his poisoned son's power. And Maya had the power to envelop herself in protective fields. He need not worry about them, but those who constituted S.T.R.I.K.E.'s roster? He didn't know. Dropped to his knees, an expression of heartbreaking concern permanently plastered on his archangelic features as he watched his son gradually lose control, Thee Champion cursed himself for not stopping Catalina. Finally directing his attention to Maya and Addison, he spoke.

But with all the surrounding air having been blow-torched into oblivion by Leonel, Alexis instead spoke through the telepathically that his stored psionic energy enabled. "Maya, Addison, you have to stall him. Because you can't stop him", the Herald of Hope began. "I'm going after Catalina. She's the one who corrupted Leo. If I stop her, it'll return Leo to normal. I know what I have to do to Cat", he paused, he would have to use his powers in an attempt to relieve her of her neurological disorders, the source of her madness. "Stall him. He might be corrupted but I know Leo's still in there. Try and reach out to him. Maya, you're his closest sibling, his best friend. Don't let your guard down but try and reach him. He might listen. Addison, you too. You're his only remaining friend from Reality M. You hold a special place in his heart. He really likes you, try and reach out to him too".

Darting after Catalina, Thee Champion knew of his game-plan, and how to implement it. Meanwhile, Leonel attacked. A powerful jet of scorching plasma, ionized particles accelerated to near-superluminal velocities escaped from his eyes. All of the remaining particles in what was once air, were suspended as time froze in fear of the New God's power. The plasma beam or jet carried with it an enormous amount of kinetic energy. It doubled, tripled, then quadrupled in size as 124,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 joules of energy, many many many many many times hotter than the Sun threatened to swallow his faraway targets, S.T.R.I.K.E., whole and liquefy them at the atomic level. It requires roughly one centisecond (ten million nanoseconds) for the light that hits the retina to then be processed by the brain. Because Leonel's beam was traveling at 99.9% the speed of light, it would require only 3.4 nanoseconds to reach his targets. Assuming they had no superhuman senses, they literally wouldn't see the attack coming.

It didn't matter that the two other gods who did battle with one another were in the sky above him or if anyone moved out his beam's path, because as it traveled at 269 million meters per second, the beam struck the particles ambient particles with so ridiculous an amount of energy that it initiated nuclear fusion, causing gamma rays to explode from every collision as an explosion never before seen by the eyes of man was born. A towering ball of fire ascended into the air and engulfed the encompassing area wiping almost everything as a blast wave of so much force was generated that it inspired monstrous tsunamis in the nearest sea, and tore part of the forest's ground into the sky. With his attack, Leonel fully intended to eradicate everyone in his path, he intended to blast the atoms out of them and reduce them to fundamental particles and quark-gluon plasma.

"Ronnie,"

Shawn Lincoln of counter-Earth. Some would call him a hero, others a monster. It all depended on the time in which they met him. Born under the sign of Apollo, Shawn was destined to do great things. He used his powers for the good of the world, something he could not change. Eventually, his enemies became too powerful. They threatened his family. Tireless searching proved fruitless and his mind grew weak. That is when it struck. From out of nowhere, a cosmic parasite latched onto Shawn's brain, sapping his will and forcing him to become its host organism.

Without warning he attacked his own mother and father, severely injuring them. Ronnie stood in his way. His Ronnie.

The littlest Lincoln died that day on counter-Earth, sacrificing himself so that Shawn would be brought back from the edge of disappearing entirely. The parasite retreated to the darkest corners of Shawn's mind, creating a massive sense of doubt within the eldest brother of the family. Did the parasite make him kill Ronnie? Or did it just force him to the point of impact and leave the conscious muscular action up to the golden man?

He fled from home and family, never once showing his face to the public again. That is, until a stranger attempting to create a superhero team contacted him. They were gathered from all around that world to fight the injustices they all faced. But they were too late to change anything.

The parasite hiding inside Shawn's mind began to infect the others, sensing their vulnerabilities where he had grown strong. The director responsible for bringing Shawn out of the darkness would also be the one to pull the rug out from under his feet. He told the golden man of another Earth, where a Ronnie Lincoln still lived and adopted powers of his own. He told Shawn that in order to bring his Ronnie back, this "Turisas" had to die. Through some desperate inner desire to fix the wrongs he had done, Shawn believed the secretly corrupted director.

And now they were here, teetering on the brink of death.

"I'm sorry,"

Turisas did not move. Broken, he merely watched as his counterpart apologized and explained all of this to him.

"I just couldn't let you stop me from doing this,"

In a simple hand gesture, Shawn's wounds were healed and he once more glowed with a radiant golden sheen. No blemish upon his perfect skin, nor the crunch of snapped bone underneath. A cleric without peer, the golden man glared at the chaos above the atmosphere. Everyone would die in just a few nanoseconds.

"Forgive me. I'm not your Shawn Lincoln. I'm my own man. And I'll always be..."

Racing now, breaking every barrier before him, the golden icon appeared near the greatest point of energy at that instant, collapsing his own molecular structure in the process. The truly catastrophic gravitational disaster would be contained to that area, but comparable to a black hole dragging everything nearby into its core. Shawn Lincoln of counter-Earth disappeared that day.

Everything of himself disappeared that day, to save an Earth he never visited, to redeem himself to a Ronnie Lincoln he was never brothers with.

"I'll always be Sensational."

@azure_son: @vocal: @last_man_standing: @shanana: @feral_nova

50,000 years ago:

"This child has displayed the most resilience of our available subjects." The voice was male and distinctly alien with an unusual accent. Even after years of captivity the child still found the voice strange. The ten year old had never seen its captors and only rarely saw the other children that were also held at the unusual research facility. The child was aware that they had been taken somewhere far away from their home planet, a place that it had heard called "The Edge of Reality" and it guessed it was a world or solar system on the very edge of the universe, a place where the universe was still in its infancy. The voices always came over the speakers, usually because the scientists or whatever they were on the other end were going to communicate with their subject. They had to do so in the native language of the child's homeworld of Cocytus and assumed the child had not learned their language. It was an inaccurate assumption.

"Then this is the one we should select for testing. Do we still have permission to carry out the experiment?" A female voice asked.

"Permission has been granted. We are to expose one subject to the temporal winds of the Big Bang. If it survives we are to begin conditioning and expand the program to include additional soldiers."

They were going to make soldiers then. What do they mean by the temporal winds of the big bang? That doesn't sound healthy...the child sighed and picked up the little gray cube it had been studying for the last several hours. The scientists seemed to think it was funny that the child was so amused by a cube, especially at the age of ten. But its a perfect cube that fell out of the sky. There's nothing normal about it. I'm glad they let me keep it when they abducted me. I'd really like to know where this thing came from. It seems like some sort of storage device and it even comes apart into several pieces. The door opened suddenly and without thinking the child stuffed the cube into a pocket.

Excellent choice Raeyn. The child's eyes widened as it was told to leave and follow after a guidance robot that had come for that very purpose. It was important to the program that no child be able to identify the people that had captured them. Raeyn did not respond that way because of the robot, but because of the unexpected voice that appeared in its head. I chose you for a reason. You will be protected but there is only so much I can do. No mortal was meant to be exposed to the energies of the Big Bang.

What about the others? They will die then...Raeyn questioned as they walked. I will protect them as well. A new species will be born with you as its head. Your life will be confusing soon, but I have chosen well and have confidence you will survive and prosper until such a time as I need your assistance.

What are you?

I am a key.

Keys open things, what do you open?

One thing at a time child, one thing at a time.

Raeyn was loaded into a small life support capsule which was in turn jettisoned into a rift at the beginning of the universe, a tear in the fabric of reality created by the Big Bang itself. From the rift came the energies of the Big Bang. The rift was closing as the universe expanded and would eventually snap shut entirely, but for now it was still there, still spilling the birth stuff of the formation of the universe into the darkness of space. The Universe was so vast as to be virtually unaffected by the rift, but the immediate area around it was a distorted mess of space time and twisted and warped at ever varying speeds and to ever changing degrees. The forces should have torn the child apart, to say nothing of its capsule but something protected it, an invisible field of energy. The capsule was fortunately designed to allow only one form of energy through, Temporal Energy. All other forms of radiation and energy were shunted away by the hull and the unexpected energy field. Scientists watched as time mingled with the DNA of a dying race...and something new was born. Other races would have perhaps reacted differently, but Raeyn's species was an unusual one with adaptive DNA capable of altering their biology to survive on whatever was available in their environment. In the temporal winds of creation hours seemed like days and days like hours, time itself warped and fluctuated so that even the passage of minutes could suddenly be the passage of years or aeons. Beyond the temporal winds everything else was perfectly normal, the only chaos was the confusion on the faces of alien scientists as they watched the readings coming out of the capsule computer.

Because the child's body registered time as changing and passing at much greater rates than it actually was, it soon felt the icy grip of starvation as Raeyn's body attempted to adjust to all the temporal fluctuations. With the body now starving Raeyn's DNA adapted to consume the only consistently available source of energy...time itself. Unfortunately there was another response, the eternal imprint of constant starvation, an unending and unbearable desire to feed on time. Something else occurred in the capsule as well, the cube in Raeyn's pocket was absorbing temporal energy at a tremendous rate. Eventually the cube reached peak storage levels and opened a door...inside of itself. The cube achieved its purpose, to open a tiny gateway to a pocket dimension. The doorway was contained within the cube, providing whoever accessed the cube access to a nearly infinite power supply.

The child known as Raeyn survived the process and was quiet, utterly silent in its chambers while the other children were exposed in turn. True to its word the alien cube protected those children as well. Only when the last child had been exposed to the rift did Raeyn respond to the scientists.

"How do you feel today?" The male scientist asked. Raeyn opened its eyes, the look in those ten year old eyes was unnervingly animalistic.

"I'll tell you how I feel." Raeyn said coldly.

Not one scientist survived the next five minutes.

Now:

During Catalina's arrogant speech something grabbed a hold of the frightened and starving Time Siphon's mind. She spotted the cube and felt something scratching at her memory, but her memory pane was now mostly shattered. She no longer even remembered why she was here. Acting on ancient instinct born from a connection between herself and the cube in childhood she walked over and picked up the cube. The little gateway inside of it remained open and her mind realized the sudden exposure to a whole pocket universe of temporal energy. Pocket universes came into being and collapsed all the time, their temporal energy was less than half of that of the prime universe, but it was extensive none the less, billions upon billions of years. She grabbed the cube with both hands and growled as she fed on the energy available through its gateway. For the entire duration of the argument between Catalina and Maya, Raeyn felt and heard nothing. Her intention was solely on feeding. As the minutes passed memory shards began to lock back into place and her powers grew well beyond where they had been. Some of her most difficult to attain memory shards locked into place and her eyes began to glow with power as the pocket dimension collapsed. The gateway inside of the cube collapsed and the Key to Time began the slow process of regenerating its power reserves. It would take exposure to a now closed rift or tens of thousands of years to regain its energy. The careful plan Raeyn had put into place to fight the Temporal Hunter was now shot...but much of her power was restored. That was Catalina's mistake. She had assumed that Raeyn was an ordinary Time Siphon, a predatory creature barely capable of thinking beyond the next week. Raeyn was the original, the first and most powerful of its kind. It was capable of long term planning. Raeyn had discarded the cube for the sole purpose of using it after attempting to shunt the sword away. Rather than on the verge of starvation and desperate enough to fall into Catalina's trap...she was actually more powerful than she had been before.

Raeyn pocketed the cube just in time for a huge blast of energy to fire in their direction. She was about to act, sacrifice a memory shard and the powers that went with it to save the others...but someone else intervened. A huge black hole consumed everything from the attack. Raeyn frowned a little, rather certain that someone had just died to do that. Would I ever sacrifice my life for others?

She looked down at the cube. She had no idea.

@timesiphon: @azure_son:

Burns had felt the bullets punch into him as well as the woman. Penetrating well into him due to his injury. He hadn't however anticipated a round hitting him, penetrating him through his head, and causing the being to fall to the ground, bleeding ichor about his body as he closed his eyes. He wasn't dying, he was processing. Trying to gather everything that had occurred. The doctor noticed, as the director laid paralyzed on the ground, incapacitated by poison. However, with a bullet literally in his brain, he is disabled, and can hardly do anything.

Back to where I once was....useless. He said, as he laid haplessly on the ground. As the clear fluid came onto the ground, flowing consciously about, it had begun to devour it. Breaking it and other plantlife down for organic matter. He began repairs, feeding on more and more life. Everything around the Cyborg beginning to die as the devouring swarm consumed all but his allies. Leaves rotting, trees falling, animals falling dead, and then dissolving as if being melted by acid. Their bodies used for simple energy and materials.

I have been thrust into much more then I bargained for, I must admit. I had merely come for the sake of curiosity, for the sake of perhaps making some difference in my endevours. And to be proactive in something that may come to effect me. I would have never suspected or accounted for this. I am but a mortal in a machine. A spec before gods who's mere existence, in all honesty, makes me feel quite irrelevant, even now with my power, I still feel very...irrelevant. Watching them reminds me more and more of my own mortality....

The bullet is pushed out of Burns' head. Being jettisoned from his wounds as it lands near him. He levitates into the air, as he sees, two girls, arguing, Bickering and brewing power.. Timesiphon is wounded. As Burns killed and fed upon the ecosystem, he felt something. Something of such great magnitude, he would have called it a god, if he believed such things truly roamed around.

Incredible. His power was enough to ravage worlds at a time. Burns knew of him, he was known as the "Azure son." His aura of destruction neared Burns, striking him once, repeatedly and bombarding his body with a wide variety of energies among the electromagnetic spectrum. Ultraviolet, X-Rays, Gammas rays all bombarded his body.

Burns squinted, the quantum dots structure of his body and that which he created from the environment ensnaring him., along with ichor. Lightning struck his body and did him no harm as it was thrown off into a superconducting loop located in the torso. His eyes glazed over, becoming black as all the energy was absorbed. He looked over to his trembling makeshift arm as he forged it into the original. Carbon Assembling to form his carbon nanotube and diamondoid frame.

"To think, that I am only absorbing a fraction of your power. What secrets your body must hold...." He says looking at him, his naturally inquisitive mind preoccupied with leonel, rather then with his own life. But then he seized control of such urges. "How can you allow such darkness to overtake you? Can you not shunt it out as I have? Overtaken by arrogance, like all the rest." Burns felt another strike of lightning imbue him with immense amounts f energy as he was encompassed by the field.

"Unacceptable..." He says simply. Not wishing to see something like this wasted away. The assemblers processed materials devoured all about them, to produce stormrouters and more Quantum dots. They surrounded the field. Absorbing ambient energy given off as it ravaged all life around them, as Burns jumped away outside of the field. Flipping gracefully hundreds of feet in the air as he landed quite the ways away from them still. Capturing ambient energy, and not allowing it to harm those from S.T.R.I.K.E. Dulling ambient light, giving lightning a path of lesser resistance to follow. Forming perfect coherent absorbs.

"All this energy he radiates. I have never. Ever. Felt this much...

Burns then recites a quote. "You are the universe, but society teaches limitation." And with the end of that quote, he raises his hand."I am a self made being. No longer human. But self made." He thrusts his hand into the dirt, and the ground quakes. Not from Burns himself. But from his machines. He begins using his various nano-devices for what could only be described as terraforming Warping the landscape for his own purposes as ground was ripped apart. He sought to levitate the members of S.T.R.I.K.E all on different platforms of rock, suspended in the air by or composed of buoyant quantum dots.

It was like watching a telekinetic rip the area apart with his mind then warp the into his liking as everything that was not sentient simply was devoured. The amount of mass accumiliated was enough to for Burns to make a city by thinking about it now. But his opponents power grew to such proportions as to dwarf him. The man looked as he detected something oncoming. The thundergod.

Time froze from Burns perpsective as he began to rapidly process everything. Account for every contingency. Every happen. Leonel had begun forming phenomenal amounts of energy in his hands, of such magnitude that the Doctor had come to the conclusion of an imminent relativistic attack.

"Good god. He is gathering enough energy to destroy a moon..." Burns would not be able to deflect, let alone survive something like that if it hit. However, the counter earth version of the thundergod, the golden man appeared before him, seeking to clash with it. Could he withstand such and attack? He was powerful...

He watched as the god collapsed into a black hole, defusing much of the energy from the attack that Burns would have otherwise been unable to feasibly defend against.

The man lands back with the group, whom he simply caused to levitate away from the fight on Layer upon layer of molecularly arranged QDs, each layer designed to bend a layer of He forms a massive orb, garnering large amounts of matter as he constructs a field of Quantum dots diamondoid some 90 meters thick. The remaining ramifications of the blast being absorbed or compensated as the nuclear like temperatures peel away layer after layer, causing it to rumble and shake violently as it defused it mostly.

"I'm getting too old for this....you." The man pointed towards the timesiphon. "I have gathered much information. It would seem as though you and Maya Liafador are the only ones capable of combating this threat. The magnitude of this threat is beyond most everyone here. A harsh reality, with harsher ramifications." "The best I can do is annoy him, distract him and cloak your approach if needed." "Your thundergod is dead. Your director...." Burns points and makes her appear before them. Floating down gently on a platform that appears before her, as he looks her over.

He may be able to create life, but he cannot bring people back from the dead.

The invisible dome processes oxygen, so that they can actually have a breathable atmosphere and well as protecting them from harsh temperature outside from such as attack, in which Burns hopped that the Azure son would believe them eradicated. It was sinking into Burns....the feeling of irrelevance in most of his actions. But he was in this, as they were. He had made his choice and would help however he could. He had enough matter to work with for hundreds of miles, but it all over paled compared to the thing that was Azure son.

If Ruby was alive, Burns would seek to aid her. Seeking to touch her, and purge the poison from her system with his "Ichor." His fluid akin to blood.

"We're not even done with our mission, but this is important Yos. Don't interrupt,"

Brain surgeons had to be tender with every move they made. One mistake could jeopardize everything. The same feeling washed over Freddie Dio as he mulled over the options before him, each one destined to change the lives of those he worked with and sort of loved or whatever. He picked up the nearest package of ground beef patties. Its label read 80/20, but he could not help but feel the leathery texture. It could never be good enough to satisfy the taste buds of his teammates. Then he thought of hot dogs...shortly before disregarding about hot dogs. Sausages were different. Sausages could work.

The golem behind him crossed off each item from Dio's extensive list, provided he actually chose something and deposited it into the cart. Shopping with Dio always sucked because you couldn't just run through and grab everything. It was one of the few things he took his time with. Everything else had the shortest route to the best possibility. But picking out what to eat and drink for the week took hours. Especially now that Dio had a party to plan behind Ruby's back. Really, he submitted the idea when he joined the team. He figured that by the time she actually read his suggestion and approved it, he could be in the process of cooking everything and have it all ready to eat.

Of course, Yos being a kleptomaniac didn't help at all. He brought toys and printer ink into the cart, stuff that had no place in a real barbecue king's supermarket repertoire. Eventually Dio had to slap the stuff out of Yos's hands. This made him seem like a crazy person to most logically-thinking people, considering Yos was invisible to most logically-thinking people and it looked like Dio just threw down printer ink and the latest Monty Python Limited Edition action figure for no apparent reason. The delinquent didn't really care. He had to discipline his golem one way or another, how would he learn otherwise?

"Higher fat content means more flavor, but less actual meat. It would mean my burgers could turn out to be something like bologna,"

He cast a wayward glance at a log of gelatinous foam some people had the audacity to call "meat." He shivered in disgust. Quickly throwing some 80/20 patties into the cart, he decided to just cook them medium-rare. Juice never hurt anyone, and if they wanted a leathery hamburger then they knew where the edge of the ship was. Oh, right, he wanted this barbecue to be on top of the airship. That way they could just park over the ocean somewhere and have the perfect beachtime atmosphere without the trouble of sand or dirty tide water. Surely Director Ruby had a swimming pool button somewhere. Any logically-thinking person would have a swimming pool button.

Maybe that's why she couldn't see Yos and thought Dio was a crazy person. What if she denied his request because of that? ...What if nobody else on the team could see Yos and it just looked like Dio talked to himself all the time? These things bothered Dio. Really, he couldn't care less about the common folk's opinion. They could think whatever they wanted, he had no desire to influence that. But teammates? they were practically family. He didn't want to be labeled the schizophrenic of the group. Not that people with schizophrenia are bad, they're lovely people with a medical condition they have no control over.

By the end of this self-conflict, Dio was in a fetal position on the floor. Again. Things like this bothered him. A lot. But it was at this time that he realized no one else in the store had cast a wary glance at him in a while. He could usually sense that kind of thing burning into the back of his head. In fact, no one stood around him at the most important part of the store. There was nobody at all. The place was empty, including all of its employees.

"Yos, have you seen anyone?"

"~Not for a while, OH NO~!"

"How much is a while to you?"

"~Ever since beginning AWRIGHT!~"

Yos posed with a tight pectoral region near Dio's ear. He was accustomed to this by now, so shrugged off the rogue droplets of sweat and oil. Yos never lied, and he had a decent perception of his surroundings despite his constant bizarre nature. Of course, Dio focused on the barbecue ever since arriving at the store. He couldn't have noticed something so trivial as an empty supermarket. But with this realization, he felt the familiar glow on his neck that someone was watching him. But more importantly, someone was judging him. Grimy hands shot into his basket and took some of the meat he had carefully picked out.

"You eat this sh!t? It had no flavor and it's hard when you cook it! It's all wrong, wrongwrongwrongwrongwrong!"

Each time the strange man screamed "wrong" he threw out a new item Dio had chosen over the course of his being at the store. Yos caught all of them before they were besmirched by the dirty floor, thereby saving the barbecue. The strange man hopped into the cart and started laughing with a weird "kek" noise.

"Oh yeah?" Dio answered him, incredibly annoyed and suspicious of anything that would happen now. "And what do you eat?"

He started to laugh again, louder this time so that even the produce section could hear him if there were people in there to begin with but there wasn't so this analogy is lost.

"I eat BOLOGNA!"

A shocked expression slapped Dio across the face.

"Ouch,"

Yossele emerged from behind his human keeper shortly after stacking the meats carefully nearby and in ascending order of potential tastiness. The golem struck his fists together, ready for action. The strange man, meanwhile, had no idea what Dio was doing. For once, he felt normal. He sort of liked it. Ever since he was a child, people called him strange and weird and stuff like that. But he did realize his purpose for this story and looked at Dio with a bead of nervous sweat dripping down his face.

"Uh, you must be pretty weird for someone like me to say this, but - WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"You're not a real person are you, old man?"

"What are you - "

"My Stand is Yossele Mercury. There are many like him, but he's too fabulous for anyone else to be attached to. He can sense things before they happen and react accordingly, even if there are mere nanoseconds to do anything,"

As if to demonstrate, Yossele unraveled his hand and dropped a fistful of needles to the ground. They were all rolled up as if they were found in a toothpick dispenser, organized perfectly and neatly until gravity took over. Damn gravity, ruining most things. Most things.

"I know you're just a distraction for the actual assassin sent here from counter-Earth to kill me. What, couldn't handle the thought of me throwing the best barbecue-airship-middle-of-the-ocean-pool party in the universe? Because that's my plan right now. And you're not invited!"

Dio pointed at another person, this time hiding in the rafters. The strange man who used to be the center of attention collapsed into a useless puppet, his entire life having been a lie.

As soon as Dio points at something with such an authoritative pose, everyone knows that Yos is about to lay a smackdown. With all of his purple-gold glory, the golem catapulted a hurricane of ruthless fists with reckless abandon towards the assassin, each punch more than enough to severely injure a normal human being. Of course, Dio never dealt with normal people trying to kill him. At least not regularly. Normal folk were actually rather nice and gentle, perhaps to make up for the horrible stuff on the news. Just be kind to your neighbors.

They'll return the favor and be kind to you, it's human nature. Everyone's good like that.

But back to the "fight." Yos shouted "ORA" like a Pokemon more times than Dio really wants to listen to, but Yos wants to be a Pokemon and it's his decision. He's a strong independent Fable and he don't need no (hu)man telling him what to do. Except in the case of who to attack, but that was different. Dio didn't really get a chance to see what the assassin looked like. He was kind of an idiot standing out in the open like that, but maybe that's how his puppet mastery worked. Whatever.

Also Rosenthal showed up out of nowhere.

"You do realize with each nanosecond you spend here, STRIKE is almost being erased from reality, right?"

"If that's true, then when our conversation is over, the crisis will be averted."

"Indeed."

"Did you just take the cherry out of my drink? That's gross."

---

"You were expecting some kind of moral to all of this, but it's me - Dio. You should know how this ends by now."

@doctor_burns:

Luna Hawk and Solar Hawk were having a quiet conference off to one side while Doctor Burns was speaking. Eventually Solar Hawk nodded and they approached the unusual doctor. "No one here is useless. We have been discussing and we believe the corrupting influence to be magical in nature. I resisted it on the deck of the carrier using Nth Metal, because Nth Metal disrupts and dissipates magical energy." Solar Hawk said and held out her spear. "This is made entirely of Nth Metal, if you could coat it in a protective layer of your nannites I can give it to Maya and Maya can do something about it. It would only take the briefest of contacts."

Luna Hawk began the process of changing magazines in her unusual rifle. She ejected the existing magazines and loaded new ones, with entirely different form of rounds into them. "This works too, but I don't think Maya wants us potentially killing her relative. In my experience that rarely goes over very well."

Time Siphon narrowed her eyes at Doctor Burn's comments aimed at her. "If I stop him, Maya will never forgive me and she knows it. I have to let her try first." She glanced around at the others for a moment and then back to Burns. "These are the only people who have ever accepted me. I'm not going to do that to them if I don't have to." She quietly put the cube she had been holding back into her armor's storage compartment. "Help them with that spear, if things go wrong I'll step in. If you help them I can help the director."

@azure_son:

Ducking down and crafting a barrier of sound she escaped the deadly advances of Y though always at risk never the less as she was before her most deadly piece at the time. Didn't matter if the shurikan or poison or pepper spray was succsessful as all Y would need do is get Fraga to turn for the ninja of sound to be in peril. But soon the stage changed as the group arrived before a temple.

It was hear they got an explanation a long winded monologue of villainous roots and nefarious revelations. Vocal didn't focus much on the dialogue however. Two giants on seperate sides of the globe, Gaia, a world trying to take earths place, an alien fleet. Cadence wasn't shocked to learn it was a play to take one of the best defenses and shove them out of commission. Rather as the reveal went on Cadence focused on continuing to use sonics for empathic influence to try and sedate the effects on the ancient samurai. Soon however matters grew infinitely worse as Leonel was turned rogue a force of power that should have been Vocal's end.

The radiation should of stopped her heart, the heat should have turned her to ash. It was that simple in a solitary flash of power the ninja of sound should have vanished from existence. However the doctor softened the radiation and casted barriers. And the sacrifice of another titan took in much of the dammage output. "Samurai jack if you can mask the real me that'd be great."

She didn't know if Fraga could channel the focus to obstruct Vocal from the new gods sight. She didn't know if sight would even matter in her coming move. What she did know was that she wasn't going to sit around and discuss a plan and let the chance of a second volley come into play. She was a woman of action she took the initiative and leaped from the platform and used sonic emissions for a series of moves to permit her what might be a final gambit.

Thirteen of her manifested in a line of violet beauty. Constructs of sound energized and given form. The environment would mean they were nothing but a cover but anything would help. She encased her self in the same energy masking in the crowd well, and perhaps would go unseen depending on the samurai. She'd in her construct also stored enough air for the next moment. And with that she charged forward, she was only as fast as sound, her speed kissed the sound barrier where the god good obliterate it with his speed. There were many of her but her strikes would fall like rain. And that was the point.

The god might let her come, to give the best her warrior spirit could. Why retreat or resist the inferior?

However the acoustic assassin had what very well could be the ideal weapon of the fight ahead. Quite some time ago a man known as Doom crafted a metal to fight Thee Champion. A anonymous killer who served him took a katana of that very metal. That nobody passed the blade on to a mistress of murder. And from that statue of a heroic monster Vocal had taken Nighthunter. A katana of Tempestrium which upon a single cut attacked the ATPs furiously a blade that only rivaled Vibranium and Adamantium but was far more likely to piece a new god then those two. Any cut would do small or crippling she couldn't be concerned with killing or damage done here. She'd seen a move that should have removed her from the universe entirely, every fraction of a fraction of a second mattered.

So she rushed forward the thirteen danced with her a blur of motion and no distinct pattern until the end where she'd strike first. With a blade meant to drop a god to the level of men. Her blade went for the gut seeking to spill intestines on scorched soil. In her run a bolt of lightning had managed to strike her shoulder wounded from the prison before. The pain was daunting her body trembled but she didn't stop refusing to drop until she saw her move to it's end pass or fail.

The closer she got the less powerful she became for without air there is no sound. Should she cut flesh or miss she'd end in a oxygenless environment. And should she not stop the titan she'd probably just topple over without even being hit. The cards were so stacked against her one might consider checking her sanity. She had a team to assist however, a people to safe guard, and in the distance a father suffering a heart ache that should never be. If she didn't step up she couldn't see herself befitting of being a hero let alone one day leading the Inhumans. So a Inhuman charged a new god with a speed comedic in comparison, a power level dwarfed a dozen times over. But it was okay because Vocal wasn't someone who'd let odds or others make decisions for her.

“No Leo…” Maya sobbed watching as her brother’s mind fell to the powerful corruption properties of Catalina, first Gaia, Then Burns; now Leonel. Was Catalina truly infecting them with her will, or was she jumpstarting an evil that already lay dormant within them. Whatever it was, it became too much for the young Liafador to bear; instead of aiding her teammates, the 5’11 power princess fled—flew away from the conflict altogether.

“MAYA!” Addison screamed, watching as one of their only hopes fled the battle. For Maya the pain was too hard to bear, the very fabrics of her family were being torn apart; and who was the mastermind? Catalina.

She preyed on the fears of not just the Liafador’s, but all of STRIKE; employing tactics that would leave them mentally and physically exhausted. STRIKE seemed to be able, like that of Solar Hawk; their resolve would push until it was over.

Not Maya, falling to her knees about 50 miles out, she cried, feeling powerless without Selene to coach her through it. Her brother might’ve ended the lives of all the people she called friends, and yet she was choosing not to do anything. A pacifist by nature, Maya’s own morality begin to affect her judgment, and though she made a declaration to Catalina; that she would kill her, It was an empty threat.

“Mom… I need you, I can’t do It…I’m sorry; I can’t fight Leonel” She sobbed pressing her head against the grass to send a prayer to Ziccarra in hopes she would hear them. Her pleas fell on death ears, this Earth knew no religion.

“Maya…” A voice called out; breaking the young girl’s tears. Tilting her petite head just slightly, Maya’s eyes befell a young woman, about 5’5; tantalizing blue eyes, mesmeric curves, and long incandescent blonde hair—the exact opposite of herself.

She’d seen this woman before, it was the prime equivalent to herself; the creator of the M reality. “H-how are you here?” Maya asked, wiping her tears.

“Your sister managed to secure my physical body, but she was not able to detain my consciousness.” Her alt answered closing the distance between them.

“Maya, I come from a very dark place; a place where the lines between heroes and villains were constantly crossed. My father, legendary hero, Andferne did his best to keep me pure; but in the end I failed. What you see here is a result of my impurities, forged from my shattered psyche; I crafted this world, and ultimately your brother and his friend Addison.”

The blonde helped the power princess to her feet, staring into her eyes with serious demeanor. “You represent the only pure element in our temporal lineage Maya…don’t allow yourself to be overwhelmed by what this world will throw at you, embrace it. Handle it with the virtues your father embedded, but in a manner only you can.”

Maya stood tall as her alternate wiped the tears from her cascading eyes. “Remember these words: The world still needs heroes. If you ever need me Maya, I’ll always be with you” following her sentence, the blonde billionaire dissipated leaving the 5’11 teenage super model to herself.

“The World Still Needs Heroes” She whispered, channeling her mystic powers to augment her abilities. Maya’s Essokenesis was in its primitive stages; she did not current hold control over all her abilities, but the one she quickly learned to master was her Reactive adaptation; learning new skills in a time of peril.

“Leonel is far too hazardous right now…if he continues to run amuck, he’ll kill everything” Maya whispered. In her mind she’d already defeated Leonel, in her broken state; she forgot just what she was capable of.

Stretching her long legs she prepared to do something she never tried before, “Channel Flashfire…” she whispered, picking up a slow trot back in the direction of the battle.

Maya was naturally fast for a person without super-speed, at only 16 years old; she was able to complete a 400 meter dash in just 50.79 seconds; which was ground for Olympic qualifications for human females. Dashing through the rich fauna her legs pushed forward chopping across the terrain like powerful pistons, “Channel Flashfire!” She screamed, trying to think of the brief moments she spent with him back at the vessel; the day Ruby launched the HATV.

One long stride after the other finally saw a blond aura streak from her godly features—speed force. “GO!” She screamed, bursting through the barriers of science, Maya’s trail scorched the earth with her footprints.

The easy part was done, now the hard part was generating enough speed in such a short distance to isolate herself and Leonel in time. Sound seemingly broke around here, water droplets froze in time as she sped past them; focusing her eyes on the palace she could see the climatic confrontation coming to a head.

As she ran, she coated her body with a conductive shield, that’d allow her to withstand the catastrophic energy being released by Leonel. She prayed silently, that her fear didn’t cost the lives of her friends—she could save them…she would save them—she was the Power Princess.

“I’m so sorry dad! I’m coming back!” She screamed parting the rivers as she sped through. Darting through the jungle that separated the palace from the swamp, Maya’s eyes darted toward the heavens as the golden god, erupted in a massive singularity absorbing copious amounts of energy; all in an effort to save Ronnie.

“No…they’re dying” she screamed, pleading for more speed. “More!” She screamed, erupting in a blinding white light that seared the ground she ran on.

Back at the broken palace.

Addison watched in awe as Shawn Lincoln—the gold god sacrificed himself to save STRIKE, it was admirable, in time she’d send a prayer for his soul wherever it went; but now things were dire. Maya was gone, taking out a big gun. Doctor Burns did what he could to spare them a quick death, but as STRIKE threw in controls, Leonel would only get stronger. He’d eat this world, just as his parents did.

Launching herself alongside Vocal, the orange tinted, champion planted her feet before throwing her hands at Leonel to manipulate the energy he released; as she did so—she began to feel herself growing weaker.

“Inhuman…I can’t control the energy….” She cried, trying her hardest to protect Vocal long enough for her to make an honest STRIKE towards Leonel.

Ruby’s eyes opened to the sight of Dr.Burns and Time Siphon, there were thick purple blotches on her face from where the poison was circulating, but Burns injected something into her body that immediately began to counteract the symptoms. “W-what did you do to me…” She asked, her attention was immediately captured by the sound of Addison trying her hardest to contain Leonel’s energy.

Though exceptionally far from the confrontation, she could hear the death-like screams coming from those that remained to fight Leonel. “I know I was warned about this…but I never thought I’d be tasked with fighting a sun.”

“What’s that?” She asked turning behind her, truthfully she saw nothing, without the slightest bit of superhuman augmentation; no one would ever be able to see Maya. Speeding past Ruby and Burns back to the palace, Maya looked to first remove Vocal from the situation, should Leonel seek to attack her.

She wouldn’t ask any questions; her next move would be to create a vortex around Leonel with her speed; a tool she’d use to essentially funnel all his energy into one condensed area. The finale—Power Erasure, she’d done it to Catalina just a few short months prior… and she’d do it to her brother too.

Not entirely sure if Leonel would be affected, she readied herself to full on combat her brother, with her light magic.

Cat was stuck in awe at what she released, not even she could’ve imagined that Leonel was full of such raw power. Cupping her hands, she soon parted them creating a spherical orb of darkness energy. Thrusting her hands forward she fired the orb toward her father to merely keep his attention.

Quickly slithering through the shadows on the floor, the tenekinetic queen; sought to scour her father’s rear side, and impale him through his pectoral muscle with her hand morphed into a spike.

@maya_liafador:

Solar Hawk was a warrior, uncomplicated and pure. She was also a White Lantern. It took a moment sometimes for her to realize what she could do with her ring. It was not fully charged but it had been recharging for long enough to be useful for her purposes here. She watched Catalina and her first thought, to use her Nth Metal spear to disable the orb, she cast aside. She needed to do something to help turn the tide of battle, not just fight in it. She handed her spear off to Luna Hawk who waited to see if Doctor Burns could coat the spear in protective nanites or not. Solar Hawk scanned Catalina with her sensors but it proved fruitless, she simply had no information to go on. Fortunately, her ring knew something about fighting darkness. She felt its desires and then waited for the right moment to act on them. She saw it the moment Catalina moved to attack her father from behind. To gain full access to the power she needed...and sort of to make a statement, the Universe's only remaining White Lantern chose that moment to speak the oath.

"In darkest day, in brightest light...

evil souls all fill with fright.

Crush all who bring the Blackest Night

Done by our hand White Lantern's Light."

Solar Hawk closed her eyes as she spoke and when she finished the right shone with the power of a star and she channeled the rings pure hatred of darkness into a coherent beam of blinding white light. The beam exploded from the ring and arced toward an unsuspecting Catalina. The white energy of the right sought not to kill, but to purify. If nothing else it would burn away the very darkness she attempted to use to kill with and travel through. All shadows in the vicinity vanished the moment the oath was finished as the entire area lit up as if they were standing upon the surface of a white star. If Catalina failed to dodge or avoid the blast it would wash over her as a purifying wave of energy that would burn away darkness in glorious fire. Perhaps if she was nothing but an evil soul she would simply find her power suppressed, but if there was even an ounce of good in her, the light would find it and attempt to purify her to the core. At bare minimum there were no more shadows to travel through and the dark spear she sought to create would likely vanish or burn away.

Solar Hawk wasted no time what so ever. She turned her attention from Catalina to Leonel. Her sensors detected the presence of someone running at hyper speed around him. Solar Hawk had her suspicions as to who it was and chose to avoid doing anything that might harm her. Instead she channeled a second burst of White Lantern energy toward Leonel in the hopes of helping Maya, if it was her, to save her brother. The ring had used an immense amount of its already low power to attempt to purify or at least suppress Catalina, so it lacked the energy it would take to completely heal Leonel, but it could help, it might push back the darkness just long enough to make him hesitate in his actions. Perhaps, just maybe, it would buy Maya the time she needed to in-act her plan.

The ring was done again, reduced to the point of merely glowing dimly. It needed a full on recharge and that was something Solar Hawk would have to do away from the battlefield. She mentally cursed herself for going weeks without actually charging it. She had not expected a battle of these proportions any time soon...yet here she was. She would erase that mistake and never make it again. The ring had immense powers, not the least of which was bringing back the dead. It would be best to have those on hand all of the time. To say nothing of the fact its universal translator like abilities allowed her to actually speak with her teammates without using Luna Hawk as an intermediary.

@last_man_standing: @timesiphon: @vocal: @maya_liafador: @solarhawk: @doctor_burns:

His steps brought him forward in the aftermath of his punch. While the beam it generated was swallowed by the abrupt emergence and disappearance of a gravitational singularity, the devastation it incited was apparent. Nuclear fusion had ravaged the land. Trees were uprooted from their very foundations and flung into the air, to be reduced to ionized dust. Radiation, poisonous and lethal to those without the means to resist their effects became abundant. The ground was cratered and cracked as gaping fissures allowed for the emergence of the scorching magma that coursed underneath. And the heat rendered the surrounding air a blow-torched furnace. Within a hundred meters of the corrupted New God however, there was no air.

The heat energy he radiated had completely eradicated the air in his immediate vicinity. None of the words his adversaries uttered reached him. With no air surrounding him, there was no medium for sound waves to travel in. He simply strode forward, and though by virtue of the cerebral intervention of one of S.T.R.I.K.E.'s members, the team had been rendered invisible, Leonel's targets were still clear. Invisibility, unfortunately, was no obstacle for him. His sensory perception was powerful and versatile. It didn't rely solely on light radiation. Able to see in complete darkness and even through lead, the New God's vision had its foundation in its perception of cosmic microwave background radiation. Catalina's corruption began to burrow deeper and deeper into his mind, and with every passing second, Leonel lost more and more control.

His previous attack wasn't even a fraction of what he could do. He was a breed of divinity rarely seen. He could eradicate worlds at his weakest. What he could accomplish at his strongest was frightening. He needed to be stopped. Then one of S.T.R.I.K.E.'s very own made an effort brimming with valiance and burst forward, intent on defending her team from the corrupted New God. Though the violet-haired heroine requested assistance from a recuperating Sosuke, the time-displaced samurai quietly shook his head, "There's no use. Look. He's looking straight at us. He can already see through the invisible barrier. He's using a source different from light radiation for his sight". Despite Sosuke's words and the apparent odds stacked against them, she attacked. It was commendable. Her forward dart implied many things.One hundred meters within Leonel's radius and there was no air. It was a vacuum, and she would suffocate. Whether or not that posed an obstacle to his katana-wielding opponent was of little importance.

Radiating heat so intense that the closer one inched towards the New God, the more he seemed to resemble a white, glowing orb not unlike the Sun, Leonel was confident that should his adversary draw any closer, her 70% water filled body would not only cause a violent evaporation of her bodily fluids, but the newly formed steam trapped beneath her skin would blow it off. Whichever the case, his opponent was in essence, frozen in time, at least from the New God's perspective. As a being who lives and moves at 99.9% the speed of light, his opponent was simply too slow. If there was a medium in space for sound to travel in, it would require 14 years for it to travel from the Earth to the Sun, whereas light only requires roughly 8 minutes. What his adversary did in years, he could do in minutes. Then, then Leonel's steps paused, and his palm was directed towards S.T.R.I.K.E. and their one charging member. "Shit", Thee Champion cursed in his mind, certain of what his son intended to do, sensing what the Azure Son sought to incite.

High-energy particle collisions were what the corrupted New God was causing. He was generating antimatter and suspending it in electric and magnetic fields. But he was generating massive amounts, and at a rapid pace. Seconds in the making as the Herald of Hope's features grew expressive with their alarm, "He's going to destroy the entire solar system and whatever the blast wave catches in the next couple of light years. I have to do something". Though he turned his attention towards his son, relief settled his spirit and mind. Relief from the sight of an intervening Maya as she seized her brother's attention, encasing him in a vortex that sought to concentrate his energy and prevent it from dealing the damage that Catalina intended. Though his attention was momentarily seized by the Power Princess' vortex, the corrupted New God was immediate in attempting to escape it. To overpower his sister's attempts by seeking to generate a hypernova, a star explosion that eclipses the typical supernova, and the creators of gamma ray bursts.

Gamma ray bursts are among the most energetic events in the known universe. Capable of generating, in 10 seconds, more energy than the Sun will in its entire 10 billion years, and spawned from explosions 100 times more powerful than a supernova, it was evident, Leonel in his corruption, was no longer intent on destroying S.T.R.I.K.E., but everything. But then, a second prior to his intended hypernova's generation, the New God was struck, by a beam of white light, one from Solar Hawk. One that significantly lessened the darkness that poisoned the New God's mind and soul. It stunned him, and rendered him vulnerable to whatever Maya intended. If they were to stop him, they would have to do so then and there, or risk the existence of the solar system and whatever lie light years beyond. "Maya, now!", Alexis urged via the telepathic link shared with his daughter. She held the power of light magic as well, along with Solar Hawk, she was the only one with the power to cleanse Leonel of Catalina's darkness.

Struck by one of Catalina's orbs, Thee Champion's attention returned to his daughter before his gaze fell on nothing, she had vanished, but reappeared, driving some sort of spike through the flesh in his back. Zipping forward prior to the realization of the spike's goal of piercing through his chest from his back, the Herald of Hope winced, clutching his wound before returning his gaze to Catalina. "You fool! Look at what you've done! You've unleashed something that we can't control. When Leo's good he keeps all of this in check. But now? He's going to kill you too. You might want him to kill S.T.R.I.K.E. and even me, but then what? He'll have nobody else to fight, but you. And what you've done is awaken the worst side of him, the side that just wants to fight someone strong enough to fight back". Though his words carried weight, Alexis was simply executing a distraction, all the while harnessing his electromagnetic powers in an attempt to heal Catalina's electromagnetic organ, her brain, the source of her lack of empathy and mental deterioration.

@vocal: @maya_liafador: @solarhawk: @doctor_burns: @last_man_standing

Time Siphon stood motionless, observing the battle around her. She had been shaken deeply by the sight of someone sacrificing their own life for the lives of complete strangers. The concept was not just alien to a Time Siphon, it was anathema. She felt somewhat sick to her stomach and her eyes focused on where the black hole had been. She could see the wound in time, bleeding like a bullet hole in a living creature. Her vision of the world was vastly different from everyone around her, she could at any time see the temporal energy of any object, including the universe it self. Most people spoke of Space and Time, she could see both, the very fabric of reality. The wound in that fabric represented the sacrifice of a man willing to die to save people he had never met. It was...

I don't understand. She thought. Nor do we. The other voices added. Even the girl, motivated by youthful idealism and innocence had still be a Time Siphon. The very idea of sacrificing your life for others, even if you knew them, was so completely alien it had never even really occurred to her. Sure the members of STRIKE were fighting to defend the planet, but that was understandable. She had always assumed that if the battle proved fruitless they would leave and find another world to live on. Now though, she finally realized just what this battle meant for all of them. This wasn't a selfish desire to protect a home, it was a desire to protect the people living on it no matter the cost.

Raeyn floated up off of the ground as she came to a decision. She could reinforce Maya's attempts to stop her brother. Maya was moving fast, hyper fast even, but she could be improved, allowed to move at a rate of speed an entire magnitude higher. Actually, calling it moving faster wasn't true, she was going to grant her a small adjustment to the flow of her temporal energy, it was the same sort of thing Raeyn did to increase her own speeds. Maya could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and a shiver convulse down her spine as the Time Siphon coiled around her Temporal Line...but she didn't drain it, she changed it. Some of Raeyn's temporal reserve burned away in the process but it was a small enough amount. The effect of her change was to put Maya effectively one second ahead of everyone else. Maya's perceptions and actions simply happened one second in the future as far as the rest of the universe was concerned.

The most immediate effect of this was to make it much more difficult for anyone to track Maya's movements, even those with the ability to perceive someone moving at the speeds she was moving. The second effect was to allow her to anticipate the next move of her opponent by just a hair.

@timesiphon: @vocal: @maya_liafador: @solarhawk: @doctor_burns: @last_man_standing:

"Then try something else if you can. If you wish to perform seppuku Fraga I can't stop you. Way I see it though our hearts still beating so we keep going. I don't care if the cards are stacked so far against me I've no chance. I refuse to surrender I'd think an honest samurai to do the same." Cadence's voice rang out with no source a projection of sound unique to her allowing her to communicate despite allready having plunged herself into the soundless mouth of madness. She knew the samurai was enduring hard times allready. That the collaborative efforts to help and change of the game were a major part of why he remained sane. In truth Vocal demanded nothing of him just surviving was fine by her. The acoustic assassin simply sought to continue to steele his resolve and do what she could for someone. Failure was permitted by Cadence she could grow from there surrender however wasn't an option.

Air attempted to flood into the vacume crafted from a level of power that haunted the alternative world. As it did it was quickly burned away. A brief moment however existed where Maya spoke her speed granting her to speak before air burned. So fast was it spoken it'd of been an inaudible mess to most but not for Vocal. Sound was her refuge her art form and as such she unraveled what was said. Nodded and prepared for the worst.

She could allready feel it the energy she had was dwarfed a hundred times over. The necessities for her powers were gone she could do so very very little. The energy was burning out with haste, her speed far outclassed. And the second her limited oxygen or energy gave up she'd be gone. Reciting the science wasn't necessary the simple conclusion was the best. Vocal was done for at the end of this, companions might get her to a medical bay but she wouldn't be fighting. But again for her, odds were to be damned.

What she did was dissipate her sound constructs to use as a boost to her defense. She let go of her speed boost let that shield her as well. She stepped to the side into the trail of the wild card speedster choosing to in a sense ride Maya's coattails rather then bother trying to do anything else. With such speed the air was constantly racing to fill the airier the sound barrier screaming whenever it got the chance but both air and sound were fighting a losing battle. Still moments existed the ninja of sound could grasp. All of it used for survival as distance closed and Nighthunter sought the flesh of the new god of ruin.

The blade designed by a emperor to fight gods went after Leonel in a white knuckle grip of determination that surpassed conscious thought. For all other accounts Vocal was allready done practically when Maya had passed her. Still her mind and muscles acted despite her no longer even aware. One cut all she needed to help save her companions. If her katana could but kiss the flesh she could do her part. Her will and resolve inhuman in that onconcious rag doll strike, using ones unexpected speed force to give her an equally unexpected chance at being useful.

It wasn't without a price however. Her clothes were scorched tatters her flesh horrifically maimed even more so. Radiation polluted her being to tragic over abundance. Muscles were made ash in entirety in some cases and bones were pulverized. Even though she could keep her body in one coherent piece it wasn't designed to endure what Cadence had willingly sacrificed it to do. Heat was abundant between the New God and the speed of the model. The radiation of the god imposible for the Inhuman to endure. The G forces from moving at such speed was crippling. In all honesty most would of been dead long before she dared to try and her daring didn't do much for her livelihood. A slash was made by a body that was hard to identify as much more then a corpse with a violet aura.

She wasn't dead however as the body skidded along the ground only further brutalized at the end of the solitary move. To stubborn to give up her heart still beat and Inhuman observers from earth were allready gathering a medical team to take to the Strike aircraft. Cadence people would be able to bring Vocal back to her alluring warrior form. For now however Cadence Kotone member of STRIKE, daughter of the Inhuman emperor, and genuinely stubborn warrior was out of the fight.

@azure_son:

"He...He's gone..."

It happened so fast, but Ronnie knew he had no time to grieve now. Calculations taken with launching the giant to Venus taught him one thing: he had the capacity of hitting things harder than was often necessary. As of this moment, none of that mattered. The energy blast Shawn sacrificed himself to deter seemed to only be the introduction of something greater and far more dangerous. All of the spirits connected to the hammer were uncharacteristically quiet. He had to be brave for all of them, in the face of the apocalypse. Yet, even certain disaster did not quell something much stronger than fear building up in his heart.

An overwhelming sensation of rage washed over him.

"He's gone, and it doesn't even matter does it? You'll just keep making more and more blasts until you finally do it, huh? It doesn't even matter who you step on! Who you kill!"

Something flashed a blinding white in the epicenter of the growing darkness, causing it to fade for a split second. Ronnie had to thank someone later, considering it parted the storm of particles long enough for him to get a clear shot. There were no theatrics with the hammer this time, not like with the giant. No spins to theoretically increase momentum. No twirls to keep that momentum going. Just one shot, that's all he needed. With one motion, he was gone.

Lightning typically reaches speeds of around 3,700 miles per second. Yet its light particles are not so different from those in solar rays. Following that logic, however, Ronnie didn't want to go from zero to light speed all at once. His godlike body still had mass, even at that speed. He ran the risk of knocking the Earth out of its natural balance if he did it any other way. Those within a safe distance would see a bolt of lightning cascading not down to the ground, but up into the sky, before disappearing into a brief rainbow. Still, the colossal speed at which Ronnie traveled with this idea in mind tore at the atmosphere. With mass came at least some gravity, and the particles he accumulated followed him into space.

These burned into white-hot plasma through a mixture of thermonuclear fusion due to the sheer velocity as well as the lightning crackling around him and the hammer. Each second ticked by, but time no longer mattered to the godling. He was on a collision course with the perpetrator of these many attacks on Earth: Leonel. He had seen a great deal of good come from this young man. Such as Leonel's perception of time slowed in accordance to his relationship with light and the gravity pooling around him like a star, so too did Ronnie's understanding of the years passing between them come to a head. The sheer static brilliance located between them tapped at the vacuum of space, not creating anything and yet making a stage for them to do battle on: New God to godling.

But even as the decades turned to centuries, and the two monsters of mythological proportions did battle on a cosmic scale minimized into the window between their own eyes and minds, the fact remained that Ronnie's hammer stood at the forefront of his rekindled assault. Blood left his body, pressurized out and fried instantly in the span of a million years. His flesh disappeared, and his bones withered to dust, or so it seemed. Every waking instant was agony to him. Every sleeping second in the dream of eternity, locked in endless war with the man in front of him he had yet to even touch.

This went beyond college mathematics. This was just insane.

And yet the hammer pressed on, undeterred in its mission, focused and unstoppable. Molecules reaching back as far as the Jurassic Period stood up arrayed to try and sap away its momentum. Millions of years passed, the rise of mankind, and its sudden disappearance into the void of uncertainty. The future came, and then the end of time. And still the hammer pressed on, spirited by the throw of its first wielder and continuing against all sort of tyrant until its current master. And even then, he threw it into the abyss, confident in its future and the future of its next-to-be keepers. For even in the void of death and the shadow beyond even the darkest hell, there is light.

And there is the spirit to fight for it.

The molecular barrier between them closed so tightly now, winding the already tight and impatient particles thin. It was about to snap now. So unfeasibly close, and yet so incredibly far away. The hammer gave one more roar of defiance in the face of an unbeatable enemy, one last call to the lightning and the storms. Ronnie did the same, his broken body now suffering unimaginable wounds he would wear forever despite his godling physiology. If only fate would allow, then he would have his vengeance for Shawn Lincoln of Counter-Earth and put an end to this madness, at least for the moment. One hit is all he needed to accomplish this.

One monumental, and unforgettable, STRIKE.

@azure_son: @last_man_standing: @timesiphon: @vocal: @maya_liafador: @solarhawk:

Things had seemed rather grim. The best option at that time had seemed to be retreat. He listened to thee champion's words his comments on Leo's additional eyesight.

But then Burns had thought, that if he can so easily destroy this world, what is to prevent him from destroying another? This must be resolved here, or he will not stop.

A proposal. Solarhawk proposes he coats the nanites in a protective layer. . "Nanofactories and "grey goo" itself are fragile. Quantum dots, though versatile, only have 1/1000 the bonding energy of conventional matter, and are thus much weaker then the ordinary matter equivalent when it comes to resistance. However, it has it's uses in cloaking and in dispersing heat. As well making quick construct no stronger then well made steel. However, if you refer to the things I make, your Nth metal from what it seems serves better for that purpose and is overall more durable. Why. I hardly understand why it is-" The doctor's mouth abruptly shut as he stared at the metallic item for a moment. "But, you've just given me an idea. You are a genius!" Burns exclaims, his tone rather cheerie as he takes it. "I have use for this yet....you'll have to forgive me."

Then he abruptly dissappears. Leaving behind only a crater as he jumps into the air. Somewhere in lower stratosphere as he looks about. Burns makes a wave, as he goes about gathering energy. Immense amounts of energy.

As he gathered the energy, he put his grey goo to good use, and used it to terraform the area. He made a gesture and there was an rush of microscale machines. (Not nanosized) The flash forged, and cooled along the lands for miles upon miles, rendering the ground walkable among the wasteland of magma. Every gesture the Doctor made was like an Orchestra. As he continued to absorb the ambient energy of the New God, preventing it from harming his allies while simultaneously. The new god gathered more energies. As it radiated about, Burns only needed absorb a small fraction of it before he saw Maya striking Leonel and Catlina. A brave girl. Burns would have wanted his daughter to grow up to be just like her, if she was still alive.

But such thoughts are for another time, for everything is in place now. The sky glows brightly as Burns gathers some 700 Petawatts of energy in the air, only a fraction of what is needed. Enough energy to power the earth 4.6666667 times ever, and suspends the weapon in midair, and there is a bright light as the air lights ablazed into ionized gas. For a short period of time, Burns focuses the lasers to the chunk of Nth metal to achieve a temperature of 3.6 Billion Degrees Fahrenheit. Excessively hotter then the sun, and he holds this long enough to simply melt the weapon.

However, now, it may be molded. Burns is quick to take advantage of it's state, capturing literally every molecule of it with his quantum dots a that litter the air and allow him to so easily terraform everything to the point of him having essential telekinesis and with enough energy to rapidly reproduce among the landscape. To the degree that the man, through his machines, had spread his influence so far as to have some degree f presence on ever corner of this earth. He used this Nth metal, to make Nth metal nanites. Onces cooled and forged once more. They each were functionally indestructible.

As Burns watched everything, he watched as Vocal went to engage him with a strange sword, one that may actually harm him. But her speed was dwarfed approximately 60,965.1481 times over. She was severely injured in her attempt.

Burns saw this as the perfect time to drop down. Shattering the ground with his landing as he quickly grabs her, scooping her up in his large muscled, hulking cybernetic arm. And then dashes off with her. Landing near the group. A padding forms along the ground as he forms a full body cast.

"Brave...but foolish....foolish. Rest, young one...." Burns coats her in a caste of sorts, a most organic film that prevents infection as medical nanites destroy diseases and begin to alter her cells to repair them. However, the process is generally slower for metahumans due to their oft abnormal physiology. However, her lesser durabilty makes her more moldable and less energy consuming to repair.

"One...cannot simply rush...."

Solar hawk then uses her light, in tandem with Maya who uses her energy to aid in the dispersal of leo's corruption With a small fraction of his newfound nth metal micro scale machines, he distributes it among his allies, to render them immune to Catilina's corruption.

Then finally the thunder god clashed with the new god. He waited. Having no interest in getting in his way. He was a sturdy god, he would survive. Burns dashed off at Mach 4. Blinking as he peered through the entire electromagnetic spectrum. "Microwave hmmm? Well, I am also one who can manipulate electromagnetic radiation....most the entire spectrum."

Burns used his quantum dots in the air, as he used only a single command to his network to set his quantum dots to plunge the entire continent into darkness. Complete and utter darkness, as he then hand dots form layers to bend and disort not only the CMB waves. The structure of the dots as they formed upon command varied so much as to disort all frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. Radio, microwaves, infared, visible light, ultra violet, X-Rays, Gamma rays and finally, they highly energetic cosmic radiation. The Doctor was dwarfed 209,110.268 times in movement speed. He had no interest in allowing his opponent to see his approach.

*BOOM* Burns sought to punch Leo with his multi gigajoule palm strike thrown at hypersonic speed from Burns coming from Leo's side. God or not, he figured it would be worth the attempt as Burns hit him with a blow that had sufficient force to propell someone into the planet's stratosphere and cause blast waves upon to the side of his face as the Nth metal nanites would crawl inside of him to aid in purge the nanites as Burns sought to get near leo, as he would look him in his eyes, the massive array of quantum dots now rendering the area visible as the darkness left, now focused on absorbing the ambient energy.

Two Indra Drones came from Burn's back, flying into the air, and them being his primary mechanism for control electromagnetic energy, he used them to deflect an onslought of plasma. Oxygen was optional. Burns had more then enough energy for chemical reactions and to function self sustained. However, the reason why he gripped Leo was to get words through to him. His sound would conduct through his body as long as he stayed in contact with leo. Not traveling through air, but solid to solid. The Nth metal coating on Burn's hand allowing him to touch Leo and his own durability letting him be near him.

"Listen to me. You do not know me, but I have things to say. Stop it before it is too late. We know you are powerful, but you are going to destroy everything you love if you do not stop now. Will you be made a puppet of your own desire, amplified by an exterior force. I know what it feels like, to be more powerful then others. You have vast potential..."

Burns face softened.

"Do not allow yourself to be some puppet for a teenage brat..."

He had no idea if he was getting through to him, and though burns could survive being near him, an actual attack was another story. He'd have to predict it in order to have a chance to survive and he began looking Leo over, to see when he might attack. However, most importantly, he tried his best to establish a line of communication. With Burns mind, being of simply practically instant, light speed reflexes.

Most importantly however, he sought to establish means of communication between Leo and Maya. Burns receiving Maya in the form of using the dots as an external nervous system to receive her voice. From there, Burns would be able to himself, receive the signal and send the sound to Leo despite the vaccum environment.

"Speak, Maya Liafador.....speak to your brother from where you are..."

“Where are they!!!?” Agent Hollins screamed, trying to find any trace of the missing STRIKE team. They had nothing, no visuals, no communications—only vitals. “Director Ruby’s vitals are stabilizing, better than they were a couple of minutes ago” Agent Norfleet reported, having found her inner strength to return to her post after being shot.

“They’re on that other Earth, and judging from what we can see; it’s looking pretty bad up there”.

Agent Line reported, eying the drastic changes on the planet from the fighter deck. “This has all gone to hell” He later commented, watching as his fearless director’s vitals fluctuated.

“If the Director dies…what will happen to us?” Norfleet asked, her question caused all the Agents to cease. Throughout the entire ordeal; the question surfaced here and there, but no one actually dared to actually ask.

“T-then we keep fighting…” Agent Barnes grunted, limping from the medic-bay back to the command deck. His wounds were freshly patched; but he wasn’t about to stay down while his team needed him.

“Agent Hollins…we have a level 9, operative in-bound” Norfleet reported, bringing the recognized STRIKE vessel on the main screen.

“Level 9? I thought it only went to level 8?” Line said, returning to the deck. “No, we’re just level 8; that means there are things above our level.” Norfleet said, opening the port for the vessel.

“Standby, opening all depressurizing the doors” with a loud hiss, the doors to the inner sanctum of the H.A.T.V opened, and in stepped.

“Commander Stacy” Special Agent Hollins greeted timidly; shaking the woman’s hand, unsure as to why she was here.

“HQ seems to think I’m needed here. They are requesting that the Director return to HQ immediately” Stacy said, eying every one of the Agents.

“She’s not here…there was a bright flash…and then they were all gone. I also don’t mean to over-step ma’am, but Director Ruby runs the HQ, how could they request she return anywhere?” Hollins asked with a slight look of confusion.

“Because…her boss has arrived…” She said, folding her hands across her chest.

As the Earth around them began to literally die; Ruby’s eyes weakly set on the destruction seeping from the pitch black soul of Leonel. As a mere human she could do nothing, even from her distance she could feel her body slowly roasting from the heat—shield in place and all, would not stop death. Everyone joined the fight, Vocal, Burns, Solar/Luna Hawk, Fraga, Maya, Addison, Turisas; the champions of Earth joined together to combat “The Man from another world” Ruby whispered, slowly allowing her hands to run down to her holster.

“Maya!!!!!!” Addison screamed, trying to snag the attention of the Power Princess, but her words had no tone, not in this vacuum. There was only one thing left to do—hope. Thrusting her hands forward, Addison sought to empower Maya’s energy with she siphoned from Leonel.

“Daniel…” She whispered, holding the handgun to her head, no tears; but her face turned a nasty plum tint. Her breaths were laborious, vision nearly blurry—the effects of Burn’s impromptu actions.

“I’m…so sorry baby. I’m going to make this all right.” She prayed, before closing one of her eyes, and sending the other into an iron sight mounted on the tip of the gun.

“I-promise I’ll find you” She said, pulling the trigger she ejected a powerful shot from her pistol, its sound dwarfed by the turbulent actions around her. She sat with her arm still extended, still staring through the iron sight of her smoking pistol.

“If I go any faster, I’ll start to age...” She whispered, feeling the pressure of Leonel’s energy eating away her containment shield. From the pit corners of her eyes, she could see that Vocal had been taken out; she was fearless and fought admirably; but the time to finally stop Leonel was here.

Everyone attacked, an all out assault on the Azure Son, to save the entire Solar System; an event the world was going to dub “The Cataclysm” was saved by a handful of heroes fighting to death to save everything they held dear.

“I love you so much. I hope you won’t hold yourself accountable for your actions.” She said, to her brother, plowing through a plethora of darkness energy to send message to him telepathically.

Conducting the energy Time Siphon augmented her with for another purpose, she channeled the energy Addison assisted her with, and sent a moon shattering light magic projection from close range at her own brother. As the energy moved towards Leonel, a round moved simultaneously beside it; its target the culprit of the entire ordeal—Catalina.

Maya’s sudden stop left her momentarily powerless, her lithe body viciously tumbling, causing residual damage to her model-like frame. Bruised, exhausted and now hungry…the Power Princess was unsure if she’d live either way to see what became of the situation.

The round plowed right through Catalina’s shoulder, Ruby was a fine marksman; as the Queen of Darkness flailed in agony, she began to feel her mind contort.

Horrible memories, Bishop, Y-intercept; her rape, her miscarriage; all the things that made Catalina believe good did not exist…they all subsided. Falling to the ground, her darkness retracting back to protect her wounded body, she could do nothing by shy away from her father in tears.

“Daddy…they hurt me…” She whispered incoherently, her eyes peered up to see the remaining Champions standing in iconic fashion with her father. Catalina’s mind was a fragile one, because she was sharing it with a much darker version of herself; it was easy for her to forget events.

Somehow this time…she knew, she knew she was the cause. “Daddy…” she said, her eyes drenched with tears and cascading mascara. She would not allow him the chance to fix her problems for him; instead she crafted a spike with her hand and jammed it through her own throat.

For the few moments that she was still alive, her eyes befell her unconscious sister on the far side of the room. She found peace in knowing, Maya didn’t have to watch her death.

@embargo:

Time Siphon turned her attention to the Director. She moved over to where she lay immediately and reached out for her Temporal Line, wondering if still existed. "I'm going to kill her if she died." Raeyn muttered, mostly to herself. She walked over and knelt down beside her, gently taking the gun from her hand and setting it down on the ground. The battle was over and Time Siphon had a lot of questions to ask of herself. She thought she might need the Director to help answer some of them...even that thought made her a little sick with herself.

You know if you didn't hold back, none of this would have happened. You could have snuffed out that supposed god and you know it. The animal again.

That was Maya's brother, I'm not going to take her brother away because it makes things easier. I think I've done enough of that for one life time.

Just going to adopt a no kill policy? I wonder what it's like to starve to death.

No...just going to focus on killing the people that deserve it.

Who made you judge jury and...

SHUT UP!

She pulled the armored hood of her armor around her face a little more tightly, using it to hide the tear that had managed to escape and wiping it away quickly. There was another way, I could have found another way. Why didn't I act? Look around you, these people accepted you and half of them are in terrible shape because you didn't have their back when they needed it the most. You are Raeyn, whole galaxies tremble at the mention of your name and you chose to do nothing. Sick, disgusting animal, that's all you are, just another disgusting Time Siphon incapable of thinking beyond its own needs.

I won't fail them again.

Far above the raging battles taking place upon the now ravaged surface of Earth-M a single figure stood alone. Armistice maintained a fixed position in the planet's upper orbit, his focus now preoccupied on managing the cosmic fallout the varied combatants below were either unaware or uncaring of giving even a second thought in the pursuit of victory. Localized spacetime had already been severely manipulated by the very forces which had led to the manifestation of Earth-M within this reality, yet that was only the match that lit the fire. Now there was not only a competing reality warper in play in the form of Maya Liafador, but an assortment of metahumans pushing their abilities far past their natural limits in the desperate hope of containing the rampaging anomaly below. Left alone the clashing forces would lead to a domino effect where the very fabric of reality surrounding the errant world would shatter into an infinite number of fragments, collapsing upon itself and dooming all below to oblivion. There was a cosmic cancer spreading around them invisibly, luckily for all involved there was a doctor in the house.

Wilhelm- "Barring the addition of additional and yet unforeseen factors, we should be able to maintain the cohesion of spacetime and avert the collapse, but this area is going to have one figuratively ugly scar until a more refined approach can be taken."

Ian - "Quick and dirty are going to have to do. Besides those below do not seem to be anywhere close to done tearing up the landscape. We have to simply be satisfied with a stitch-job for now and negate as many of the detrimental effects as possible, a thorough fix would draw unwanted attention anyways."

Wilhelm - "Reckless usage of such powers usually draws out your ire and disdain Ian, what is the special occasion?"

Ian - "Work now...wrath later."