My friends.

They seem no longer to recognize me, though after my time away, it is to be expected. Rachel, my best friend in this life, seemed not to even recognize neither my voice nor my presence. Am I so long gone that time has washed all traces of my existence away with my eye?

"Well, when you change your codename, lose your eye, undergo a useless costume change, and place mental blocks on your powers, yeah."

"Mason?"

Grant stares in shock, knowing fully of his brother's death. He steps forward, a hand outstretched to verify this phantom's existence. But the Mason-vison throws his head back and laughs, seeming almost to read his mind. "Ghost? Nah. I may have been a player when I was alive, but my sins ended up nixed out by all that vigilantism I did."

Grant takes a deep breath, and time seems to lose all meaning for him. This vision of his brother, appearing before him has come for a reason. And in that reason, there must lie a purpose. So when the 'ghost' beckons, Grant follows. It is almost unclear exactly what their destination is, nor is it really of any consequence. The destination, Grant knows, is a means to an end. But what end? Justice for Mason? Vengeance? Idle questions float through his head, asked, then fallen to the wayside. He runs through Eden, building to building, rooftop to rooftop, never pausing.

When he finally stops, it is in front of a brownstone, well kept, but secluded, an easily defensible location. Grant recognizes this place, shocked at finding himself here again.

My Eden Safehouse.

The Mason hallucination nodded, "Yuuup."

But now, as I shed my so-called "improved" costume, as I take up an old design based on my father's armor, all black, as I take up twin swords and sheathe them on my back, as I holster a gun on my hip, strap knife to my boot, as I don a mask with only one eye, strapping it into place from the neck, I feel something I haven't felt since my brother died: A sense that I'm doing something right.

"Well, yeah, but those mental blocks? I can't really undo them all at once, but those reflexes? Done."

The last piece in place, he makes his way to the Titans.

---

"Alert the Titans. Tell them if they see Viran do NOT approach him alone. Right now he's enraged and confused and I don't think he knows friend from foe. But he needs to be stopped before he reaches Second City."

Hidden in the shadows, he hears these words spoken by a girl he do not recognize, standing beside an old friend. Dawnfire. She still looks as beautiful as he can remember, if not more so. He steps out then, revealing himself for what must be the second time today. Both hands find swords, drawing them in a quick, fluid motion. Violence is not his intent, but to defend himself, he must be armed.

"Dawnfire. Surely YOU remember me."

Spellthief watched Ace carefully through the fog as he moved around carefully behind Ace. Soon he noticed Ace’s moved quickly to throw the arrow behind him, still lacking vision spellthief had to admit his perception of the battle was outstanding, able to predict movements though Spellthief still held an upper hand. The arrow Spellthief shot at ace was now being shot back at him but it was clear that the lack of vision still took its toll since the arrow missed, even if it was only barely. Spellthied sat down as he used his shade ability to further complicate things. Once the copy was made it silently ran again behind ace to better confuse him.

Still in his original position Spellthief again manipulated the fog to speak to Ace.
"The clock ticks as arrows fly,
Shadows move within the ground’s sky.
Hunt for what’s missing look for what’s sitting.
Be warned, one may also be two that may be hitting."

Once his other self was in position Spellthief again manipulated the fog to constantly move to better give the illusion that there are multiple people running around, all one at a time.

There was a loud cracking noise as the Spellthief's arrow that Ace threw hit the wall signaling that he had missed his target. Spellthief was fast, he knew this, and that would make fighting him blind a challenge that Ace just couldn't pass up. Ace could only use his sense of hearing to try and locate Spellthief. After he jumped the arrow had hit the wall of the gym he waited for anything indicating his opponents whereabouts. It wasn't long before the inevitable happened, though, and he could hear someone running ever so delicately through the fog. It was loud enough to tell someone was there in the silence, but quiet enough to make it hard to place it's origin.

As Ace stood in the fog trying to locate the sound another riddle came to him.

"The clock ticks as arrows fly,
Shadows move within the ground’s sky.
Hunt for what’s missing look for what’s sitting.
Be warned, one may also be two that may be hitting."

'so this is a timed game of hide-and-seek?' Ace thought to himself. Then the fog started darting in every which direction as if there were people everywhere running around him. Ace felt the urge to panic and start swinging at anything, but quickly put that feeling aside as he continued to focus. He began to turn slowly, on alert, looking and listening attempting to determine what was moving and what was wind. While he scanned the fog he was able to find a faint silhouette amidst the shifting fog. 'behind me... Again?' he thought the it was odd to try the same tactic twice unless he was somewhere else to begin with. Not knowing that the figure he saw was just a copy he charged his body and leaped after it. Once on the air he began to thrown cards not at him but around him in an attempt to stop any plans for escape.

Viran growled as he looked up at the sky and saw a small portal appear in the sky. He let out a roar of rage as he saw the figure of War go through the portal. He was gone and knowing how quickly the two of them could move and the fact that they could now use dark magic meant it would be awhile before he could track them down. But next time he was going to make sure that they would die. Preferably slowly and painfully. Right now he was at the very edge of the city and unknown to him, he was very close to the Valkorian compound where the surviving Valkorians were slowly rebuilding.

"Did you hear that?" A voice called out from nearby.

"Yeah. Do you think it's Hisel?" A second voice asked

Hisel...Grandfather. Viran thought sadly as his rage was slowly replaced by grief. He looked up as he heard the sound of twigs breaking in front of him. He snarled for a brief moment but stopped in mid-snarl. He could see the fear on the faces of the two figures in front of them. They were both shorter then him and there eyes were filled with fear.

They were children.

"I-Is that Viran?!" One of them asked in a horrified tone as Viran's body began to revert back to it's normal form. Bones began to crack and his claws reverted back into hands. "Yes...And I apologize for scaring you." He said quietly as he slowly walked towards the two children. "Where's Hisel?" One of the children asked in a tone that told Viran that he already suspected what had happened.

"He's dead. He intercepted a blast from War that was meant for me." Viran said quietly. "His body is back at the mansion."

"What happened to you?!" Another one of the children asked in regards to what he had been a few moments ago.

"I lost control." Viran said simply. "I think my body tried to adapt to my emotional state and that was the result. As I said, I'm sorry I scared you. I...I don't know much about my race, but I did hear that there are others of our kind here. Can you tell me how they got here? And how the two of you got here?"

The two children looked at each other and motioned for Viran to follow them. "Maybe it's time you met everyone."

Dawnfire stood still, a pained look on her face. Her hair curled about her and her fists tightened at her sides. There was nothing they could do. Grief was a powerful. It was so distorting. Even Viran could not fight it back. She wanted to help her friend, but there was nothing she could do. Nothing at all. In this she was powerless. Powerless. To think she could of almost taken down that monster once and for all. The thought pierced through her as if a laser gun and shot through her chest. Her green eyes spilled tears, her silent agonized expression like a statue's and nothing more.

Steel passed out an order and it took a moment for her to register it. Warn everyone. Tell everyone. Let Viran alone. She could of stopped this, yet she was not strong enough! The elder had died due to her incompetence. Clenching her eyes shut, she reopened them and nodded toward Steel. But just as she was about to shoot off into the sky a voice called out to her. Hesitating, she turned her head slowly. Then the rest of her turned too. His swords were drawn. Pointed at her, yet her blazing green eyes burned into the visage before her.

"Not possible," she stated in a shaky breath before turning away from the illusion, "I must be fatigued..."

"...," a soft sigh escaped Sirius as his target escaped him, and his lack of reaction to the sudden appearance of Jilocasin. He did however grab Daniel before his mana ran out to control the sword. He softly patted the human in thanks knowing words wouldn't do to much at this moment. They had both messed up pretty bad, Sirius observed the area making sure their was nothing left to handle before he started to descend back to the ground with Daniel in tow.

"We need to regroup for now if Death is back something may have happened to Viran... and thank you Daniel," Sirius chuckled lightly as he ruffled Daniels hair before he handed Daniel two mana crystals. "I learned from you its wise to keep some on hand," he softly spoke tilting his head as he shot off into the sky toward Sinna's mansion. Knowing it was best to let Daniel travel his own way he wouldn't damage the boys pride after taking away his one chance to get Jilocasin even if he didn't agree with killing him so abruptly. It took a few minutes at a hyper flight speed before the mansion came into view, but as soon as it did Sirius picked up on a immediately recognizably mana scent... it was his mates... Dawnfires she had returned. Yet before he could rejoice on the fact his eyes, and full body language went hostile as he shot down to the world below. With a loud crash Sirius landed between Dawnfire and Grant with wings as black as night spread far out separating them completely as the sword Eromreven bleed out a red mist symbolizing the use of mammon mana... a type with one sweep would destroy Grants body with a seismic hit the moment it would make contact with the assassin.

"Your armor won't protect you if it traps you within a seismic blast vibration so either disarm, or step away from my mate before I show you my animalistic side," Sirius seeth in pure aggression at Grant clearly ready to make good on the threat if Grant didn't re-sheath his swords or step back.

Grant chuckled beneath the mask, and re-sheathed his swords. He then unclipped the straps holding the mask in place and took it off, revealing not only his face, but his missing eye socket, hidden by his eyepatch. It was true that when he served with the Titans he had had two eyes, so him suddenly reappearing after his hiatus minus an eye was surely a shock. His brown hair was in its usual style, slicked back. His remaining eye looked them both over, and sighed.

Grant put forth a hand, meant as a sign that he was not there to do harm. "It seems they're surprised to see me." He spoke, not to himself, but to the hallucination of his dead brother. The hallucination shrugged, but nodded towards the lovers. "They may not trust you just yet, but they remember you."

Archangel had the homicidal machine down, his arm launched back to throw a devastating punch forward, he stopped momentarily when he saw Prime's eyes shift color. The crimson hue was a new thing to him completely, how did his enemy gain this power. He then quickly realized what the beams meant, recalling Darkstar's moments of anger whenever he’d light her wardrobe on fire. "Get back!" He yelled out before forcefully throwing Darkstar out of the way and not a moment too soon. As he sent her flying he was bombarded by both beams, getting incapacitated on contact. Archangel was sent flying into the snowy ground, melting away the blanketed area as he made impact. Darkstar managed to recover in air, still though she was unable to slow down before she had hit a large boulder, causing her to reel from the impact. As she had begun to recollect herself, she noticed a crimson red drip coming from her face, she wiped it away, noticing that her nose had been bleeding. The realization was more so shocking than painful, she had never bled before, this was new to her. Who worse than to draw her blood than an enemy that intruded and encroached on her domain? Her hands had begun to radiate with energy, glowing a violent reddish orange as she growled angrily, upset that such a thing occurred to begin with. Her eyes were locking onto Prime before she caught sight of Archangel, not moving and on the ground, he seemed wounded enough to be in critical condition at least. A scream of rage came from her as she took flight, speeding toward Prime, sending her fist flying toward the cyborg’s head capitalizing by attempting drive her knee into his chest with all of her strength. The cyborg was caught off guard by the enraged she-warrior, taking the thunderous impact and getting sent into the air by Darkstar’s devastating knee to Prime’s chin. Quickly she advanced, sending a double hammerfist into the machine’s chest and flying straight downward, seeming to race Prime to the ground. She let out another yell of rage before slamming her fist into Prime’s chest, a noticeable dent and slight piercing wound was present on Prime. Seemingly he was incapacitated, Darkstar had a knee on his chest, ready to strike again, as the danger seemed to pass, she went ahead to contact Shadowhawk and the others, turning away from the villain momentarily. “Shadowhawk, Prime is tak-...” She gasped in legitimate fear, the feeling of an ice cold grip around her was enough to shock, not only was she slightly weakened from crossing to this dimension but the fear that she’d lose herself now was all too real. Prime’s hand was locked tight around Darkstar’s neck, clamping down tighter and tighter, gripping the robot’s arms she desperately tried to pry him away but was unable to as she suffocated. The glow in her hands began to fade as well has the reddish glow in her eyes before her eyes shut and she became limp. She was still breathing though, but unable to fight. Prime never released her, holding her neck even still, the machine let the cosmic powered female to the ground with a forceful chokeslam, making her release any air she may have had left. Darkstar could barely make a reaction to pain, being shocked back into consciousness left her unable to breath.

She had been badly disoriented, her basic motor functions were failing her with the sudden ‘revival’ putting together a thought was difficult. As Prime’s fist came toward her, she feebly attempted to block the attack, her hand being thrown back by the punch and producing an extra impact when connecting with her face. The thunderous attack caused snow to erupt out of the depression in the ground as well as spread it away. Darkstar barely managed to begin breathing once more, hyperventilating, completely defenseless as the barrage of attacks kept coming.

Darkstar began to come to a realization that she could possibly die, thanks to her overpowering emotions. She couldn’t stop repeating the sequence of the fighting she had done, the moment she saw her teammate not moving. Now she was in this situation, dying with no way of contacting her team. Darkstar looked at Archangel with her dying eyes, now utterly void of hope as Prime continued his attacks. Tears were now falling from the poor teenage girl’s face as she felt death’s grasp getting closer and closer towards her. ‘I don’t want to die…’ thought Darkstar as she closed her eyes, no longer fighting the tears that forced their way out of her eyes and onto the cold snow below. In the cold wind, for only a second they felt warm before they too started to freeze. Her mind looked back to the good times she had with her now recent friends, the Sentinels. ‘I don’t want to leave… I love my friends.’ continued Darkstar in thought trying to stay alive with whatever willpower she had left. ‘I’m so sorry, my friends. I wasn’t able to protect you. She admitted in thought, her fingers created lines in the snow as she desperately gripped onto the earth as to a means to deal with the pain. By now her face was badly swollen, she had multiple bruises, as well as lacerations from the hits. Again Darkstar, for one, final time, opened her eyes just to look at the clouds above and the sun that would shine down onto the snow of the mountains before using up whatever strength she had to look at Archangel again. His body was still motionless in the snow, his wings spread out but still he was alive for just a bit longer. ‘I’m so sorry Archangel. I was not able to save you like I wanted. I just wish I wasn’t such a failure… I can never be forgiven for it.’

‘The sentinels will die, because of me being weak and in the way.’

‘You’ll die because of my failure.’

‘Goodbye, my friends. I hope to see you all again soon.’

‘At least I know there is a heaven for us.’

‘Thank you, Archangel… I’m no longer afraid because of you.’

And with that, Darkstar’s grasp on the rocks faded as her body grew more limp and everything was beginning to grow dark and her breath was finally taken out of her. The last thing she saw, was Archangel and her hand reaching outward to the winged male before falling back into the snow.

‘If only I was stronger.’

Grant chuckled. "I can see where they might not trust me. After your death, I disappeared for months on end, honing my abilities, becoming even better at what I do. Even after you hoped I'd be a hero....But I can't move on with your death unavenged. During my time away, I met Aaron...the blind archer. He hates me, thinks it should be him who avenges you. We fought, and it cost me my eye. He left me broken, bloodied, and with my eye beside me, stuck to the ground by an arrow. All I have left is an empty hole there."

His one good eye viewed the visage of his brother stoically, his face set grim. His hand went to the eyepatch and removed it, clutching it with one hand, his mask with the other.

Viran looked around as the two children let him out of the forest and saw a sight that caused his eyes to widen in amazement. He knew his people were capable of waging war, conquering worlds and other things that he had no interest in. But what he saw caused his heart to stop for a moment. He had no idea they were capable of doing something like this. He had never seen this side of his people.

"Wow," was all the stunned alien could say.

The Valkorians that had arrived on earth had not developed weapons or genetically modified creatures of destruction. They had given their word on the subject after all. What they had developed were foods that Viran had never seen before yet they smelled amazing and somewhat familiar, rays of light that came from machines that caused flowers and grass and small shrubs to rapidly grow from where there seemed to be nothing. Small fruits and vegetables seemed to sprout from these shrubs quickly and were harvested by Valkorians who laughed and joked with one another as they placed the fruits and vegetables in containers that seemed to freeze them in other rays of light. But what astounded Viran the most was the works of art that he saw.

They were beautiful.

Simply amazing

Viran slowly walked over towards a silvery work of art that seemed to shimmer and flow in on itself and Viran slowly brought his hand up to it and the art seemed to shimmer slightly as Viran's hand touched it. The work of art seemed to flow around his hand and reformed when he pulled his hand away.

"Do you like it?"

Viran didn't turn around but he could only say one word at the moment. He was almost transfixed by the work of art. "Yes."

"It was crafted by one of the few remaining artists after Genocide and Vengeance's takeover of the government and the purge of everything that didn't fuel their mad desire for conquest. He is here with us now, creating more works of art, creating whatever art his heart desires. We only managed to save a fraction, but they are here with us now. The artists of our world."

Viran turned around and saw another Valkorian looking at him. He smiled at Viran. "My name is Rikelis. And I am Second to Hisel, he who leads our people."

"I am Viran." Viran said simply as Rikelis's eye's widened. "You are Hisel's grandson!" He exclaimed in excitement. Other Valkorians began to gather around the two and they began talking to one another in hushed tones. Rikelis smiled. "Where is Hisel? Is the old man still at the mansion? He was going to speak with the other Titans as far as I know after checking with on you." Viran simply shook his head.

Rikelis's smiled faded. "He who leads our people is dead isn't he?" He asked softly. Viran nodded sadly. "He saved me from War. War was going to fire a blast of energy at me when I was still unconscious. Hisel intercepted the blast. One of my friends managed to drive him away but before he died Hisel told her everything. He told her of how they escaped the home-world and the circumstances of my birth, of how my father died in battle against the one who was known as War and is now known as Death. And I learned he was my Grandfather."

Tears formed in the eyes of many of the Valkorians as they heard of Hisel's passing. But Viran stood up in front of the ever growing mass of Valkorians.

"I promise you all, I will make sure that you will live in peace. I promise you that Death and War will be stopped. And I promise you all, that Hisel will rest easy knowing that the people he led here will live in peace!" He shouted as the Valkorians looked up at him and smiled and a few of them began cheering.

He held out his communicator to Rikelis but before he could do anything, he heard a repeating beep come from it and it began flashing red. "It's a distress call. It's coming from the base of the Sentinel's." He said in confusion. How had his communicator picked up the signal? A question for a later time, he decided.

"We are aware of the ones known as the Sentinels. Their base is quite far away. If you do intend to render aid would you like to use the trans-mat?" He asked. Viran was puzzled. "What is a trans-mat?"

"It allows transportation to any location within thirty miles of itself. That falls just within range of the Sentinel's base." Rikelis said as he led Viran over towards it. Viran stepped inside Rikelis began entering coordinates. "Stand by for transport." He said.

"Be safe Viran."

Viran smiled at him as a intense bright light filled the area and when it faded Viran was gone.

Sentinel's Base

Viran reappeared in a blaze of light and looked around and quickly took in the surroundings. A machine that seemed to resemble the android know as 'Prime' was attacking the Sentinels and two of them seemed to be dead on the ground. Viran took a deep breath and let out a roar that echoed like thunder across the area.

"Prime! Leave them alone!" He roared. "There has been enough death today. Both here and elsewhere. You will leave now or I will take you apart piece by piece!" Viran snarled as he cracked his neck muscles and prepared to fight.

"

By the end of the massacre of Darkstar, his metal fists were a dark crimson red, dripping onto the now red snow surrounding that general area.Staring down this Titan, Prime let out a metallic growl before preparing to charge when something stuck his chest, beeping rapidly before exploding, shrouding the surrounding area in smoke. An arrow had hit the metal man directly, theninitial explosion wrapped around both himself and the crater Darkstar was in, engulfing it.

---

Ironsight
Ironsight drew back his arrow, his eyes narrowed as he stared down his target, Prime. Once he shot the arrow forward, the spearhead cap came off of it, exposing the explosive, speeding its way to its mark. With the direct hit came the explosion, Iromnsight mentally cheered as he saw the jet of plasma warp and wrap around the iron behemoth.The smoke rose around the area though, shrouding the machine that he was sure had been more pissed off than anything now. At that moment, Prime burst from the smoke, speeding toward Ironsight. "I'm not a short range guy, can you please back up?" He quipped, firing as many arrows as he could, one of which prime caught and threw down. Ironsight was soon to be in a world of hurt if he didn't get help soon, a small grin was under his mask as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

---

Shadowhawk
"I'm in position, Ironsight, fire when ready.." The famed leader of the Sentinels, the greatest heroes of Second City, they were being called. "Hey uh, Shadow, you're up..." Ironsight said via com-link, the courageous leader quickly got to his point of action, vaulting over Ironsight by using the archer as a boost as he jumped toward the airborne machine, attempting to intercept the attack meant for his comrade. The promethium suited hero threw a punch toward the creation of man, it was stopped in mid-air by Prime, his heavy fist slammed into Shadowhawk's chest, As resistant as he was to pain, that one hurt bad, it was like Prime was possessed or something, trying to kill without hesitation, the plunge to the ground was halted by his quick recovery, using his claws to slow himself down, landing safely. Shadowhawk, landed a little bit of the way nearest Viran, his attention went to the Titan for a brief moment. "Viran, how about some hel-.." The next sound for Shadowhawk was an impact and white noise, Prime's knee thudded against the boy's head.Slowly he began regaining himself and getting to his hands and knees, his world was spinning. Prime's fist smashed in the side of the Shadowhawk's helmet. The leader of the Sentinels was out cold, still the hits kept coming, a mechanical and dark laughter escaped the machine as he cracked the heroes' faceplate, exposing part of his face.

---

Bishop & Surge
Bishop and Surge were both awaiting their turns to strike, watching the fight carefully, the moment they saw Prime clip the side of Shadowhawk's face, they were in shock. "OH SHIT!" The two girls couldn't help but shout out, no one had ever hurt their leader like that, this was whole new shock for them, they immediately hopped over the small rock they used for cover and slid down the hillside, Surge fired a heavy bolt, something she called a megawatt hammer into the machine, knocking him away from Shadowhawk, buying Bishop enough time to get him, Darkstar, and Archangel away from the battle and to safety.

---

Prime got up from the attack, he had received internal damage but none that would make him leave, he curled his fists into a ball before cracking his neck, his eyes began to glow before he fired concussive beams from them toward Surge. Surge seemed to have just frozen up in the heat of battle, all she could do was watch Prime sprint toward her now.

Viran watched through narrowed eyes as Prime seemed to take down Shadowhawk without any weapons at all. The leader of the sentinels was out cold, his helmet had been nearly cracked open although Viran was on the other side of his helmet and it looked as if Prime was looking to finish off the one known as Surge.

"NO MORE DEATHS!" Viran roared at the top of his lungs as he ran between Surge and the beams. As the beams hit him, he almost felt as if his head was split open but it was not. Viran snarled. "I lost my Grandfather to War today! You've murdered two people already! There will be no more deaths!" Viran slammed his fist repeatedly upside the Machine's head as it sprinted towards Surge as his eyes began to glow with unearthly power.

Bio-lock seal has been broken, a voice seemed to echo through his head as he felt immense levels of strength flow though him. He felt stronger. Stronger than he had ever been before. And Prime was going to see his new level of strength.

He turned towards Surge. "Move! I will not see anyone else die today!" he shouted as he turned back towards Prime.

Viran's eyes began to flash as he grabbed Prime by the head and brought his leg up directly under the murderous Machine's head and hit him with enough force to create a small shock wave and then hit him with a devastating series of punches that could have created large seismic tremors in the ground if he had been aiming at the ground. But it was all focused on Prime.

"This ends today!" Viran snarled angrily as he continued striking the machine with enough force to level a large building.

Titan's Mansion

Tyran looked up sharply as his sensors picked up small seismic events nearby. He began to scan all the comn frequencies he could as he listened in.

"It appears as if the one known as Prime as resurfaced. He is attacking the group designated "Sentinels." He had already killed at least one and is now engaged in combat with Viran. I do now know how Viran managed to reach the Sentinels base so quickly however."

Steel looked at the group.

"We need to help them. We may not get along but we can't let them be slaughtered."

Prime was slightly surprised by the sudden change from Viran, then again he had never faced an opponent like him so why wouldn’t he be. The machine was unable to respond fast enough, Viran’s hit making their marks and landing with concussive force. Just when he thought it was his turn to retaliate, he was sent into the air by Viran’s heavy hit. Prime had just barely managed to react fast enough, allowing his shoulder to take the full brunt of the hit. As the machine crashed through an ice wall, the robot noticed a serious mount of damage to his chassis, his shoulder was also out of place, the more Prime attempted to move it the more it failed on him. It was badly damaged, leaving the sensitive machinery exposed. It was clear that this battle was over, this was beyond Prime’s capabilities as far as self repair went. But as far as Prime had been concerned, he was just getting started despite his major injury. The machine dropped down from the mountainside, using his one arm to brace himself, the impact causing sparks as he made an impact. He narrowed his eyes when he heard the words of Viran, proclaiming that he'd end this now. "Indeed it will.." He spoke with a mechanical rasp as he got to his feet. Surge just stood there, her legs shaking out of fear, she could have died because she was afraid. A tear threatened to roll down her cheek, as it did, a look of determination was now on her face, electricity conducted within the teardrop, causing it to crackle as it dried up. Bishop had used her powers to fly herself back, the loud noise caused by Viran had attracted her attention, her eyes widening in horror as she saw Viran in his most hideous form. Her violet eyes turned into a solid glowing violet, her hands curled into fists as she saw Prime. This was all his fault, Viran wouldn't be her if it weren't for him. She formed a large psionic spike, firing it toward the machine, the weaponized attack made it through the large crack in the chassis, further compromising the machine. Surge looked over at her psionic spike, looking over at Bishop before nodding. The two females simultaneously broke into a sprint, Bishop flipped over the machine, abusing his inability to react quick enough to stop her, while in mid-air she fired a spray of rivets at her hands crackled violently. The young female could sense the power within the homicidal machine Bishop fired energy rivets at the machine, they didn't do much but they were a distraction. Surge stopped her sprint, the snow causing her to now slide uncontrollably toward Prime. Her fingertips crackled violently like she had drawn upon more electricity than she normally did, cocking her arm back she waited as he slowly recovered, she zeroed in on the crack in his armor. “This one’s for Star…” She spoke, firing a precise bolt of electricity that looked like horizontal lightning, strong enough to even produce a thunderclap. As the bright blue bolt hit Prime, it took immediate effect, compromising Prime’s whole system, his power source began to overload and fail. Prime hit the snowy ground, the red glow iun his eye died down until it was voidless.

---

Sable looked to Steel, a small frown formed on her face, trouble again it seemed, there was no time for rest in her line of work anyway. "I think we should help, turning our backs on them wouldn't be right, besides, Viran's there too.." Sable spoke, pointing out something of merit, maybe that'd get the rest of the group to agree with her. Upon doing so, her eyes widened as she saw her brother, someone she hadn't seen in months, something was off about him though. Tears welled up as she took steps closer to be sure it was actually her older brother, she hadn't even fully processed that he was missing an eye. Quickly she hugged him, burying her face into his chest and crying.

The vision Grant viewed as Mason crossed his arms and couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he saw what his old partner had done to his brother. "That's my old partner, we used to be known for our skills. It's a shame really, I thought you would have been great friends, you probably didn't need that eye anyway." He said, trying to bring up a positive point abut Grants lack of perfect vision. "But I'd say, if you really needed to avenge me, you'll stay with the team and wait your turn..." Mason said, his eyes closed as he leaned up against the wall. "It's amazing, the greatest heroes in the city are dying and my old team is too selfish to help them....why don't you say something, brother?" He spoke.

Viran looked down at the downed machine and saw the light fade from it's eyes. He looked over at Surge and Bishop and then looked back down at Prime. "Thank you. There has been too much death already today." He said as he looked back up at the two heroes. He looked over at Bishop. "I apologize if I frightened you. It was not my intention. The Bio-lock's seal should repair itself soon and my eyes should go back to their regular color."

He grabbed the lifeless form of Prime and looked it over before throwing it back on the ground. "I leave Prime with you to do with as you please. He killed your comrades, not mine. But I will offer some advice: I would disassemble him as quickly as possible and keep the parts separated from each other. If he comes back online there's no telling the amount of damage he could do."

Viran turned to look at the three downed Sentinels and slowly walked over towards them. Two of them were apparently dead and ShadowHawk was still unconscious. He walked over towards ShadowHawk and looked down at him. The side of his face that was visible was facing away from Viran and Viran couldn't help but be worried. With the force that ShadowHawk had been hit had cracked his armor. For all he knew he could have pieces of Shrapnel stuck in his face.

He gently reached down and moved it so he could see the exposed side of ShadowHawk's face. His eyes widened in shock and he stepped back before falling backward in shock.

"No...It's not possible..." He muttered in complete shock. "This can't be right..."

Bishop did her best to keep her composure, still a bit fearful, though she calmed down. "It's okay, I'm fine.." She spoke, her comrade Surge looked at the body of Prime and nodded in reaction to Viran's words, perhaps Auntie Dot could take care of it. She overlooked that and stared at Shadowhawk's body, who would lead them now she wondered, they had already lost three of their strongest, who was next? Ironsight arrived on the scene, watching Viran approach the unconscious leader of the Sentinels, he was a little surprised at how he stepped back in shock. Ironsight quickly made his way over to the alien hero, he looked down at the damage, he was surprised that anyone could even do that to the proud Sentinel. "Is there a problem Viran?" He asked, judging by the look on his face, his suspicion was probably correct.

"Is there a problem Viran?"

Viran couldn't speak for a moment. "This can't be right." He finally managed to mutter as he continued staring down at the exposed face of ShadowHawk.

"You can't be real..." Viran managed to whisper in shock as he fumbled for his communicator and found it after a few moments and spoke into it while continuing to stare at the battered and bruised face of his supposedly deceased friend.

"Attention all Titans. This is Viran. Report to the Sentinels base immediately. Something is wrong here...I can't believe what I'm seeing. You need to get here as quickly as possible."

It had been weeks, or months, Mina hadn't been able to keep track of time while she was gone training. Her mother had come for her, offering her a chance to control her powers, control the demonic abilities that kept taking her over. She had complied, after all, there was little to keep her there. The Titans were busy protecting the city while she was lost in her depression, she was not needed. Mason was dead and she still hadn't gotten over that fact, so the time away would do her some good.

Mina's mother, Raven, had taken her into an alternative world, a rift between dimensions maybe, she never explained it to Mina. All she knew was that it was a place she would be able to train without harming people, where she could exert her power without worry. The days had passed through in each other during her training. Mina needed no sleep due to a spell her mother had cast. She trained non-stop, her existing abilities, new abilities and of course control over her demonic side, but eventually her mother had nothing more to teach her. Exhausted, but satisfied with her results she returned home, but not before her mother handed her a present.

She exited in the mansion of the TT, their headquarters basically. Some sweat covered her pale skin, making her clothes stick to it a bit. She walked to her room, taking a deep breath to take in the smell of her own room again after so long. Before doing anything else she discarded her clothing with a snap of her finger and slipped into the bathroom and stepping under a blazing hot shower to wash the sweat off her body, as well as the stress of the last months.
After washing up a towel was wrapped around her and she returned to her bedroom, opening her present. Inside she found a set of clothing her mother made for her, imbued with magic. The clothing made her smile casually and after slipping on some underwear and a bra, she slipped into the new outfit and looked into the mirror.

Her clothing consisted of a short black and white dress, with black patches on her waist and a black cape stitched to the back. It also had a section around her neck like a scarf and a hood to cover her long white hair with. With it there was a set of stockings and short boots that were almost the exact same color, causing them to be almost invisible. She twirled around in her new clothing on and was about to walk out when she received a message on her receiver, looking back. She was happy when she heard Viran's voice, not having seen him in some time and losing track of him after the fight with War. She frowned and grabbed her receiver though when she received his message.

"Attention all Titans. This is Viran. Report to the Sentinels base immediately. Something is wrong here...I can't believe what I'm seeing. You need to get here as quickly as possible."

She shook her head a bit and pressed a button on the receiver, to open a line to Viran. 'Viran? Mina here, I'm back. Where are you? What's going on?' she asked worried. 'I haven't been to the Sentinel base, can you give me your location?' she asked. She realized her training and almost slapped herself in the head. 'Never mind that, I'll get there on my own. What's going on?' she asked.

"It's amazing, the greatest heroes in the city are dying and my old team is too selfish to help them....why don't you say something, brother?" He spoke.

Grant blinked his single eye and nodded imperceptibly at the hallucination of his brother. His sister sank into his chest, weeping. He smiled, and kissed her forehead. "It's been some time, Sis."

He turned to the group, recognizing that not all of them knew him. Of the few he did not recognize was a blond woman with eyes the color of steel, an atom etched in her belt, and a man in a full black bodysuit two inches shorter than Grant himself.

Grant slipped his eyepatch on, then clasped his mask into place via the clips on his neck guard. His cold green eye looked at them from the only eyepiece on his mask, and took them in. They were once the greatest superhuman team in Second City, they were once his brother's team. And with him slain...Things had obviously taken a turn for the worse.

"Attention all Titans. This is Viran. Report to the Sentinels base immediately. Something is wrong here...I can't believe what I'm seeing. You need to get here as quickly as possible."

Grant heard the communication from the communicator wired into his mask. "Viran, this is Grant, I repeat, this is Grant. Hold down your location, and give me a sit-rep. I'll be there in five."

He turned to the friends that he had lost when his world went to hell, to the sister he vowed never to lose, and he gave them an option.

"Sirius, Dawnfire, I know that you don't trust me and bluntly, I don't care right now. My brother's best friend is requesting our immediate assistance, so right now we table the trust issues. I came back for a reason, and I'm going to the Sentinel HQ. I don't know what the situation is or if Viran is the only friendly out there but backup would be convenient."

He turned on his heel and headed towards the city, where he'd acquire his car of choice. "You can follow me, or not, I don't give a damn." As he walked however, he could hear the Mason hallucination talking to him, helping lay the foundation for his plan.

---

Meanwhile, at the airport, a young woman stepped into her 1977 Pontiac Trans-Am, hopeful that THIS was where he had gone. She had to find him, save him from himself.

Her name was Katya Dobrova.

Daniel caught the mana crystals that Sirius threw at him, barely able to tell the mana thanks before he Sirius ruffled his hair and flew away. Daniel quickly absorbed the mana crystals for their energy, feeling only slightly better but still rather fatigued from the lack of mana he had earlier. The sudden gain of it was slightly disorienting and it took him a second before he regained his composure.

While Daniel was regaining his energy, Sinna saw how Jilocasin suddenly came in and engulfed the sky of the city in a gold fire before disappearing, her eyes widened by just the sheer power of it all, knowing that he was always more powerful than her but not expecting how much magical energy he truly had to cast spells like that. She flew to where Daniel was before questioning him for information on what happened. “What Happened? Jilocasin just… He just… Just... Burned the sky and then disappeared!” Sinna said, ordering and confused about all that has happened recently. She couldn’t even describe what she saw properly.

“Sinna calm down and I’ll tell you at the mansion. We all still have jobs to do.”

With a nod Sinna listened to Rachel saying that she was going to check out some mech that she saw. “Okay Daniel, but you better tell me every detail you know!” Said Sinna still not fully trusting or even liking him due to him wanting to kill Jilocasin and last remembering him torturing the dragon or abandoning the team for a more personal fight of his. Not a moment later Daniel flew away to follow Sirius and Sinna grabbed her Titan’s communicator to respond to Rachel. “Sinna here, I’m going to your location hun.” With that said Sinna began to fly to Rachel’s direction, not stopping for anything unless it was needed.

---

Not too far away in a warehouse, as Sinna and the Titans were taking care of the dragons and shadows and such the gangs did take some advantage of their given time and since the heroes were distracted they were working until a figure in black armor came in and quickly took them all out. Now there was nothing but the bodies of the criminals, scorch marks, ice and dust all over the building as a strange mix of elements and metals covered the building. On the roof his a mysterious person that looked upward while still hidden to see Sinna fly, leaving the red mist trail behind her like usual. “Mary” Said the person silently to itself as it listened to the world around it.
Sinna felt as though she was being watched by someone and when she glimpsed she thought she saw someone on top of the warehouse but when she took a second glance it was gone. Not wanting to risk Rachel getting hurt because she wasn’t there Sinna decided it to be her best interest to continue to fly away and meet Rachel.

As soon as Sinna passed the figure was hidden inside the warehouse again and when one of the crooks was still alive and almost screamed managed to scream but as soon as he did a spike of earth and metal shot out from the earth and impaled the man. The slowly the figure walked out of the building as it watched Sinna fly. Before it sunk into the ground as though it was water and disappeared completely from sight.

---

Spellthief noticed that Ace took the bait with ease and so he stood up while Ace threw the cards at the illusion. By the time Ace was finished with throwing the cards Spellthief had his knife drawn and was behind the kid. Knife pointing upwards in the center of the spine and his left hand now holding his arm spellthief whispered. “You lose.” As soon as the anti-mage finished his statement the fog cleared and Ace’s stolen stack of cards was visible in the corner. Not a moment after Spellthief let go of Ace and backed away before continuing speaking again. “You did well, given the situation though I was sitting right there.” Laughed Spellthief, before continuing in a more serious, almost emotionless tone, “Name’s Spellthief. As you well know, not many members of the Sentinels talk to me and fewer know I exist or they forgot. I’ll be talking to SH soon about what I’ve just learned.” Knowing the Ace might have questions Spellthief raised his finger and pointed upwards to sign him that he wasn’t finished yet. “Instead of being frontlines and the face of the group like the others, more than likely you’ll be working with me and some others behind the scenes as a recon member so…” before Spellthief could finish a small earthquake could be felt as the fight above on the mountains were being done. A bright red light flashed signing the base was under attack and such. “That’s our que.” Said spellthief before disappearing again as he teleported out of the room and ran silently to where ever the fight was.

When Spellthief was finally there he noticed Viran was on his communicator and Shadowhawk’s mask broken while he’s unconscious as the Alien stood in front of him and a destroyed machine who was once known as Prime on the ground dead and the anti-mage’s team mates appearing to be dead on the ground. It wasn’t long before the mage clouded the entire area in fog and on all his teammates but Ironsight and ace he casted a wide sleep spell upon them for at least fifteen minutes. Not a second after John shot an arrow at the Alien’s hand to force the communicator out and get lost in the fog so he couldn’t ask for help or anything of that such, gathering more attention that what he already did. If Ace followed him, spellthief would look at his new partner before giving out an order. “Don’t let him get away, at all costs.” Said the mage before teleporting behind Viran and placing his hand on the alien’s shoulder to give off a sign that he wasn’t in any danger. “Don’t worry, you’re in no danger.” Said Spellthief, assuring the alien he wasn’t going to harm him… yet. “But I can’t allow you to reveal our leader’s secret identity, you know what will happen if his… condition is discovered. Imagine the devastation it will cause to all if it was revealed. Some secrets are best kept as such Viran. You know what you must do to make things right.” When Spellthief finished he placed the communicator back in Viran’s hand before disappearing again, once gone the fog cleared and his allies would start to awake again. Before he fully left however Spellthief was next to Ironsight before the fog was fully cleared. “If he doesn’t keep your friend’s identity secret, he is to die.” Was the last thing Spellthief said before teleporting one last time out of sight and next to Ace, walking away from the scene. “We’re no longer needed here.”

“But I can’t allow you to reveal our leader’s secret identity, you know what will happen if his… condition is discovered. Imagine the devastation it will cause to all if it was revealed. Some secrets are best kept as such Viran. You know what you must do to make things right.”

Viran was about to call on the others again when a sudden fog rolled through the area and an arrow slammed into his hand and the communicator, knocking it to the ground. He felt the presence of someone behind him and he narrowed his eyes as the figure spoke.

"You're going to kill me and my teammates if I don't comply aren't you?" He asked quietly only to find the figure gone once again by the time he'd gotten the words out. He let out an angry growl as the fog began to vanish.

He activated the communicator again. "This is Viran to all Titans. I...was mistaken. I thought I saw something but I was mistaken." He said in the best normal tone that he could manage under the circumstances. "I thought I saw something on Prime that had me concerned but I was wrong."

'Viran? Mina here, I'm back. Where are you? What's going on?' she asked worried. 'I haven't been to the Sentinel base, can you give me your location?' she asked. She realized her training and almost slapped herself in the head. 'Never mind that, I'll get there on my own. What's going on?

Viran mentally cursed the figure for forcing him to keep ShadowHawk's secret, especially from Mina. "I...was mistaken, Mina. It doesn't matter anyway. It looks as if Prime is going to be disassembled by the Sentinels so what I saw is not a moot point. But...I...It's good to hear you're voice again. I'm going to head back to the Valkorian compound and then I will be returning the mansion."

He turned and headed back towards the spot where he had arrived. He had to make sure that the Valkorians hadn't witnessed anything as well. He had to make sure that his native race wasn't in danger from this mysterious figure. He shook his head as a bright white light filled the area and Viran vanished into the air and reappeared in the center of the Valkorian compound.

Rikelis approached him. "Is the machine destroyed?" He asked simply

Viran mentally sighed in relief. They hadn't witnessed the identity of ShadowHawk which meant that as long as he kept his silence both his team and his people would be safe. "Yes. Although he took a few of the Sentinels into death with him."

Rikelis shook his head. "There has been too much death already today." He said quietly. "We will teleport you back to the Titan's mansion. We ask that you bring back Hisel's body though. He saved many of us during the purge and he deserves to be honored for his actions."

"I agree." Viran answered. "His body will be returned as soon as possible." He said as he paused for a moment. "I've heard about your funeral customs. Is it true that you hold celebrations for three days to celebrate the life of the deceased?"

"Yes." Rikelis said quietly. "Preparations have already begun. We plan to begin later tonight."

Viran paused for a moment before asking his next question. "I...Is it possible that I may attend the funeral? Along with my teammates?"

Rikelis looked surprised. "You are Hisel's grandson. Of course you may attend. And you're friends are welcome here as well. If you wish we can teleport you back to the mansion."

"I would like that." Viran said as Rikelis nodded and looked to the teleport operator.

"We will see you soon then." Rikelis said quietly as a white light filled the area and Viran vanished and reappeared at the mansion a moment later.

Mina listened carefully, waiting for Viran to reply to her. It had been so long, Mina didn't hope something was wrong just as she had returned. Some home-coming that would be..
She almost jumped up hopefully when she heard the crack in her receiver that announced a reply, but frowned when it was a general message for all the TT members.

"This is Viran to all Titans. I...was mistaken. I thought I saw something but I was mistaken. I thought I saw something on Prime that had me concerned but I was wrong."

Her eyes shimmered with a worried gleam as Viran's voice cracked through the receiver. It didn't sound right, something in his voice sounded wrong, but she couldn't figure out what. Her increase in power caused her to tap into Viran's emotions lightly, picking up on some emotions. Worry? Confusion? Something definitely shook him up good. She was about to speak to him again when a second message sounded through her receiver, this time directed at her personally.

"I...was mistaken, Mina. It doesn't matter anyway. It looks as if Prime is going to be disassembled by the Sentinels so what I saw is not a moot point. But...I...It's good to hear you're voice again. I'm going to head back to the Valkorian compound and then I will be returning the mansion."

Again with that weird tone, Mina was worried and confused by it. Her mother's training unfortunately didn't involve the human behavior, so she had no idea what Viran could be worried about. She did some thinking and thought it may have something to do with his race, as he was heading there at this moment like he said.
Giving it that reason for the moment, she nodded a bit to herself and pressed the receiver one more time.
'Very well then Viran. It's nice to hear your voice as well, it's been quite a while. I'll be in the mansion when you return.' she stated, before placing the receiver on her bed and walking out of her room.

Fot the time being she was hungry, not having eaten for the past few weeks. Her mother's spell had kept her from going hungry and gave her the energy necessary to sustain her body, but now that she was away from the energy-rich air she felt her hunger welling up inside her like an angry monster. Growls escaped her stomach and she grinned faintly before making her way into the kitchen and making herself and exceptionally large sandwich to eat.
As she was halfway through eating her sub, she felt Viran's energy appearing in the mansion, like a ripple through a calm pool of water. She smiled and wolfed her meal down before walking toward his location.